


Lies and Fairy Tales

by adeleade, maxokiss (adeleade)



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Drag Queens, F slur, F/F, High School, Humor, M/M, Nonbinary Shirogane Naoto, Romance, Roommates, Slow Burn, and shibuya gang is mostly around yu/yosuke, bc like idk how to gender them dude... tell me if i fucked up the pronouns bc, but for some reason inaba gang is mostly around akeshu/goro, no sex but suggestive stuff yes..., sick burns (hopefully), using l'appel du vide's tags for reference, yosuke akira goro and yu are all friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 54,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22479430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adeleade/pseuds/adeleade, https://archiveofourown.org/users/adeleade/pseuds/maxokiss
Summary: Ah yes, high school, the perfect time to meet your first love, and for some, to fall for a budding murderer.Yosuke Hanamura is dreaming of a perfect high school romance. As a student council hopeful, he wants to spend his time at Shugami Academy serving the people... preferably with a cute girl beside him, of course. Well, for better or for worse, he might have to settle for a cute boy instead.Goro Akechi came to Shugami Academy for one reason and one reason only - to destroy Masayoshi Shido's life. In the meantime, he's going to have to have to juggle numerous mundane problems, including dealing with people who don't care about his status as a celebrity (gasp!), the destruction of evidence, and participating in a cooking competition with a boy from his past that might just be more than he seems. Or not. There's a lot of fake alcohol involved.Whether they like it or not, the lives of these two frenemies are irrevocably intertwined. Both are caught in a web of lies. Will they be able to spin these lies into fairy tales? Or will they have no choice but to wallow in their repressed homosexualities? Well, there's only one way to find out.(Big thank you to Ms Monique Heart for the title!)
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Amagi Yukiko/Satonaka Chie, Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji, Kitagawa Yusuke/Sakamoto Ryuji, Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru, Shirogane Naoto/Tatsumi Kanji
Comments: 20
Kudos: 114





	1. In Which Yosuke Falls - Not In Love, He Just Falls

**Author's Note:**

> I changed the position of my notes in the hopes that it won't disappear to the last chapter again... so anyways.
> 
> This is my moderately ambitious high school AU fic with a sprawling ensemble cast, 12 chapters (I just have some slight editing left to do) and character voices that all sound the same. With luck, the entire fic should be released by the end of February at most, so just stay strong.
> 
> King Akira isn't in this chapter, but don't worry, he'll arrive in the next chapter. 
> 
> Btw - the age stuff is a bit whack and honestly, I'm not American so I don't know how old high schoolers are in the first place. So feel free to imagine them as whatever age you want, etc. etc. Are they all transfer students? Who knows? Certainly not me, and I'm the author. Well, I've already written 50k words, so it's too late to back out now. Overall, though, I think if we pretend that they're all in the Japanese HS system, most confusions are negligible at most.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Goro took a sip from his thermos.

The limousine Shido had provided him with was simply luxurious. The seats beneath him were made of soft leather, and a mix of refreshments lay in front of him. Special occupational benefits for a very special job.

But at the same time, in the cold quiet, it was hard not to feel as if something was missing. Would he be happier if he had his parents with him to see him off? Someone to take his picture with a smile, someone to smudge their tears on his sleeve?

The windows of the limousine were tinted such that while Goro could see the people outside, they couldn’t see him. Goro placed his palms on the windows, his gloves protecting him from the chilly surface. His schoolmates seemed close enough to touch. If he simply reached forward, perhaps he’d be able to join them in their conversations, to bask in the friendship they shared.

But he couldn’t. Try as he might, there would always be a pane of glass between them, a barrier they’d never be able to see through, and one he’d never be able to take down.

It didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if he’d come to Shugami High to make friends. His whole life had been a chain reaction, a series of overwhelming waves, pulling him down, deeper and deeper. It was too late to turn back now. All he could hope for was to pull his accursed father down with him.

Taking a deep breath, Goro allowed his face to settle into the glowing smile he’d practiced for so many years. He took a selfie with the limousine in full view, adding the appropriate effects to make his smile dazzle.

As the limousine slowed, Goro made a promise to himself. Shugami High was going to be everything he’d ever wanted and more. In these two years, Goro was going to build himself up, becoming the best student at this school, and Dojima’s star pupil. And in those two years, he would tear Masayoshi Shido down, brick by brick.

~...~

Goro was still thinking about his revenge when he crashed into another student. It wasn’t exactly a head-on collision, but somehow, the other student ended up on the floor.

“What the hell, man!” The student shouted, his squeaky voice echoing down the corridor. Goro flinched. This shaggy-haired student was clearly the type of person to make a scene wherever they went, though probably unintentionally.

“I’m sorry,” Goro smiled apologetically, trying to hide his annoyance. The most stupid people were usually the most empathetic. Goro could only hope that the boy in front of him was one of such people. “Here, let me help you up.”

The boy shook his head, his eyes viewing Goro with suspicion. He stood up and began to dust himself off. “Damn, you really are angry, huh?’”

“Excuse me?” Goro laughed awkwardly. The students around him were beginning to stare, and Goro could feel his rage building in his chest.

“Oh, come on, don’t look at me like that.” The boy frowned. “And stop forcing a smile so much, it’s kind of creepy. Who do you think you are, some kind of movie star?”

“That’s the dream,” Goro said with a wink.

There was an audible sigh from Goro’s fangirls, which made the boy’s eyes widen with shock. As the boy stood there, flabbergasted, the crowd dispersed, mostly disappointed that nothing truly dramatic had transpired.

“Well, that was weird,” the boy shrugged. “Here’s a piece of advice though. You’re never gonna succeed with hair like that.”

That’s it. Now that the crowd had dispersed, Goro was free to shut the other boy down. And he was going to do it with relish. “Says the guy with hair that looks like clumps of orange straw.”

“It- It does not look like orange straw!” the boy whined, but his voice betrayed him. The fact that he was so bothered by it only told Goro that he had hit a sore spot.

“What would be a more apt description, then? A confused porcupine? It looks as if you shaved your head in the shape of male-patterned baldness and then let it grow out. Do you part your hair like that because you want people to think you have a wide forehead?” By now, Goro was enjoying himself. The way the other boy was squirming could be the most hilarious thing he’d seen in years.

“I- you- that’s not- what about your hair? How can you say that about my hair when your hair’s the colour of… of…”

“According to Enchanté Magazine, my silky, tawn hair gives me a mature and refined elegance that most men can only hope to achieve, accentuating my high cheekbones.”

“Whatever,” The boy rolled his eyes, an unconvincing attempt to pretend as if he didn’t care. “If you’re so pretty, just take a billion photos of yourself, then!”

He then stormed off, leaving Goro to wonder if he had, in fact, taken a billion photos of himself. Well, he was sure his fans would help him figure it out if he asked.

~...~

* * *

> OUTGOING CALL TO CHIE SATONAKA

* * *

“What did he say again?”

Yosuke repressed a sigh. “He said that my hair looks like clumps of orange straw.”

Even though it was Chie he was calling, Yosuke could still hear Yukiko’s deranged cackles interspersed with Chie’s laughter. “And? What else did he say?”

Yosuke groaned. “He said that my hair looks like a confused porcupine and that it looks like I want people to think I have a wide forehead.”

Chie and Yukiko burst into hysterics.

“I… I can’t stop laughing!” Chie gasped for breath.

Yukiko cleared her throat, adopting a formal tone that was eerily reminiscent of the dick Yosuke had bumped into in the corridors. “it seems as if you shaved your head in the shape of male-patterned baldness and then let it grow out.”

The two of them screeched with laughter. Yosuke sighed. In another world, the person that Yosuke had bumped into on the hallway would have been an exceptionally pretty girl that would have fallen in love with him by the end of the year. Instead, the person he’d bumped into was an obnoxiously pretty boy who seemed bent on tearing Yosuke down. It wasn’t as if Yosuke had done anything to set him off. All he’d done was loudly accuse him of basically being a fake bitch in front of every student there.

So, you know, normal Yosuke Hanamura stuff. No big deal. So why did the guy have to be so rude about it?

“But seriously, though, if he was in Enchanté Magazine, he must be some kind of celebrity, right?” Chie said. “What if he’s the son of some politician or something?”

“Nah, that doesn’t seem right.” The guy did have a tie on, but his hairstyle was far more focused on beauty rather than presentability. “He did have a rich boy look though. The kind of guy whose Dad buys everything for him.”

Yukiko giggled. “So, like you then?”

“It’s not the same, Yukiko!”

“How so?”

Yosuke couldn’t answer. Yukiko only laughed even harder.

“You know what, why don’t we try to find out who it is?” Chie said. “What did Enchanté Magazine say about him again?”

“Apparently, they said that his silky tawn hair gives him a mature and refined elegance that most men can only hope to achieve, accentuating his high cheekbones.” Yosuke recited word for word. Damn it, he’d really made an impression on Yosuke, huh? Something about saying those words out loud made it feel as if he was agreeing with the guy, which only made him feel worse.

“Oh. My. God.” Yukiko gasped. “I think the person you met was Goro Akechi. Was it Goro Akechi? Oh my god, Yosuke just met Goro Akechi.”

“Goro Akechi’s attending our school?” Chie exclaimed. “If that’s not intimidating, I don’t know what is. I hope this bus stays stuck in traffic a little longer.”

Yukiko’s tone turned murderous. “Don’t joke about that.”

Surprisingly, a quick Google search for Goro Akechi gave Yosuke millions and millions of hits, including a Wikipedia profile, an Instagram page and fan pages as far as the eye could see.

And, of course, hundreds of pictures of Goro’s uppity face.

“Yeah, it’s him all right.”

Yosuke was answered with a squeal from Yukiko and a loud sigh from Chie.

“I need an autograph right away! You’d better apologise to him right this second so you can send me a picture. Quick! Hurry!”

Yosuke’s eyes widened in disbelief. “God, Yukiko, you’re a fan of this guy too?”

“Obviously!” Yukiko swooned. “Oh, our beautiful, beautiful detective prince…”

So Yukiko had rejected Yosuke, but found this guy attractive? Did that mean that Yosuke’s hair was really uglier? Yosuke smoothed his hair self-consciously. No, that couldn’t be right. And yet…

“Well, anyway, Yosuke, we have to go now. Take care of yourself, okay?” Chie said. “And Yukiko, stop swooning, or I’ll break up with you.”

“Chie!”

“Goodbye,” Yosuke said, but Chie had already hung up. He sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

~...~

For some reason, Goro had an odd feeling that he was being psyched out.

After getting an enemy in his first few minutes on campus, Goro was hoping that his meeting with his roommate would go a little more according to plan. Needless to say, when he entered his dorm room, he was wearing his best smile and was doused in slightly too much cologne.

It had been fine at first. Goro had introduced himself and the classes he was taking with a handshake, and Yu had done the same. Goro had politely requested the top bunk and Yu had nodded in acquiescence. Goro had pointed out that the two of them were in the same class and shared most classes. Yu had nodded once again.

For as long as he’d been alive, everyone around Goro Akechi had always noticed him. Even at a young age, adults often commented on his beauty. Teachers either saw him as their star pupil or at least pitied him for his troubled childhood. Hell, even the bullies in the playground were nice enough to call Goro a faggot. Attention had always been a part of Goro Akechi’s existence, and over time, he’d grown used to it. He’d even started to yearn for it.

But this… this apathy he felt from one Yu Narukami. This was new.

The awkward silence that filled the room was excruciating.

Goro had been looking at Yu’s face for a whole ten minutes and Yu’s face hadn’t changed one bit. And, though Goro hadn’t decided if this was for better or for worse, Yu hadn’t even noticed that Goro was watching him. His eyes were firmly drawn to the book in front of him, and his gaze hadn’t shifted in the slightest.

From atop his bunk bed, Goro had the sudden urge to scream.

“Hey, Yu? I was wondering if we might have gotten off the wrong foot.”

Yu turned to look at him. “Is something wrong?”

Goro laughed nervously. “No, not at all. Just wondering.”

“I see,” Yu said. Then, he turned back to the book in front of him. His face was just as stony as it had been since the moment Goro met him.

Goro sighed. What else could he ask Yu? I’m a celebrity, don’t you want my autograph? Why are you such a weirdo? Hello, I’m here? Don’t you have anything to say about me?

Instead, he decided to pace around in their shared bathroom, thinking of a solution, till Yu knocked on the door and asked him if he could take a turn.

~...~

It was 7pm, but Yosuke’s roommate still hadn’t arrived. He’d spent half the day waiting for him to turn up, half-heartedly playing with whatever games he had saved on his phone. Eventually, Yosuke had decided to ignore his roommate’s absence and just go about making the room his own, arranging his files and the little he’d brought to make this space feel like home, but it was still hard to take his mind off the other boy.

Contrary to popular belief, Yosuke was an anxiety-ridden teenager that did, actually, care what other people thought of him, though he was usually too impulsive to consider exactly how his actions impacted other people. Waiting for his roommate to arrive felt like waiting for a bomb to drop.

Yosuke couldn’t stand it.

The night air was cold, but Yosuke needed to go, anything to leave his room and not worry about whether or not he’d be able to impress his roommate. Besides, he was hungry, and cup noodles wasn’t going to be enough to psych him up for his first real day at school. Who could join him, though? Yukiko and Chie were staying in the girls’ dorms. Apparently, they’d already befriended a few other girls in their block and were going to cook something for dinner. Knowing the girls’ cooking, Yosuke definitely wasn’t going to have anything to do with that. Besides, he didn’t want to be that one boy invading the girls’ dorms before the school year had even started.

Yosuke was imagining himself crying at the corner of a nearby cafe when he crashed into yet another person while rounding a corner. As usual, he found himself on the floor, his back hitting the ground with a loud smack.

“Dude, what the fuck…” Yosuke rolled over, planting his face on the ground dramatically. “That was the second time today too. Why do these things always happen to me?”

At that moment, a pair of strong arms grabbed Yosuke from behind, lifting him up. The person he’d bumped into was rather handsome. His grey hair would have looked terrible on anyone else, but something about the way he carried himself made it seem refined, even wise. What Yosuke was not expecting was the small smile that the other boy flashed at him, and the way his body was shaking slightly. It took a while for Yosuke to realise that the other boy was laughing. At him.

“What’s so funny?” Yosuke crossed his arms. “Not cool, man. Aren’t you going to apologise to me? Seriously, what kind of person bumps into another guy and then laughs at him instead of helping him?”

The boy’s face turned serious, but Yosuke still noticed a slight quirk at the end of his lips. “I did help you up earlier.”

“Well, yeah, maybe you did. But you also laughed at me, so those two things cancel each other out.”

“Do they?”

“Yeah, this is basic general knowledge, you know.”

The other boy was shaking again.

“Didn’t anyone tell you that it’s rude to laugh at other people?”

“I’m sorry, I mean it,” the boy exclaimed.

“I don’t believe you.”

The boy sighed. “Is there anything I can do to make it better?”

Anything? At that moment, an idea occurred to Yosuke. “If you truly want to apologise to me, why don’t you buy me dinner? I was going out to eat, but I didn’t really have anyone to eat with…”

Yosuke blushed in spite of himself. It was always a little hard for Yosuke to admit that he had no friends, especially when he already 18 years old, for God’s sake, but it always seemed like such an unavoidable topic in his life.

“If you have other plans, though, that’s totally fine too. Or if you just don’t really want to go, I’m fine with that as well. Forget that this ever happened, okay? I’ll be-”

“No, it’s alright.” The other boy shook his head. “I don’t have anyone to eat with either, and I could use some company.”

“Your roommate hasn’t arrived either?”

“No, he has, but I have a feeling my presence makes him a little bit uncomfortable.”

Yosuke raised an eyebrow. That couldn’t be true. The other boy seemed good-natured enough, though he had already laughed at Yosuke twice in the span of five minutes. Combined with the steady look in his gaze, Yosuke couldn’t help but feel at ease. “No way, man. Your presence is honestly really reassuring.”

“My roommate doesn’t seem to agree.” The other boy sighed. “It’s definitely not what I anticipated. I can only hope this doesn’t create more problems for us in the future…”

At that moment, Yosuke felt a sudden rush of conviction take hold of him. This boy was the nicest person he’d met so far, though to be fair, his only other competitor was Goro “Spawn of Satan” Akechi. He definitely didn’t deserve such a bad first day. Yosuke simply wouldn’t allow it.

“You know what, dude? I’m treating you tonight.”

The other boy’s eyes went wide. “Why?”

“Just because!” Yosuke grabbed the other boy’s hand, pulling him towards the nearest exit. “I’m Yosuke Hanamura, by the way.”

“Yu Narukami,” the other boy said, his voice sounding oddly breathless. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

~...~

Meanwhile, Goro Akechi was thinking of curry.

~...~

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **GORO AKECHI (Goro Akechi)**

* * *

**Masayoshi Shido [11.00pm]**

Since today is the start of the school year, I was hoping to give you a gentle reminder.

Execute your tasks, and above all, do not compromise my position.

Is that clear?

**Goro Akechi [11.00pm]**

What a kind message, Shido-san, it’s almost fatherly :)

Don’t worry. I won’t let you down.


	2. In Which Everyone Hates Goro, Even Himself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters this time - this is mostly because Chapter 2 is a bit drier and contains more set-up work than actual plot points. Thank you to everyone who's left a comment/kudos so far. I hope you enjoy these two chapters too!

It was one minute before school began when Yosuke finally reached his classroom, his face dripping with sweat.

The day before, he and Yu had realised that they were in the same class and had subsequently decided to be, well, deskies. They had then promised to wake up as early as possible so they could snag the best seats. As he went to bed, Yosuke had set not one, not two, but five alarms, determined not to break his promise.

So of course, he had slept through all of them.

Now that Yosuke was finally here, he scanned the room for Yu, but somehow, among his massive sea of classmates, he was unable to spot his new best friend. Yosuke looked again and again, but there was no sign of that unmistakable mop of grey hair. 

Yosuke frowned. Yu should’ve been there already - the two of them were definitely in the same class. 

Maybe... Yu was late too? Yosuke shook his head. That didn’t seem right. Yu seemed like the reliable sort. There was no way he could be late, especially not on the first day. Then again, anything could happen. Yosuke _had_ slept through five alarms, after all.

Regardless, there were only four seats left, arranged in a square at the front of the class. Perhaps he should just sit down and hope for the best?

It was then that Goro and Yu stepped in.

Yosuke stared at the two of them. The two of them stared back, though Yu’s expression was noticeably more relieved than the utter disgust that radiated from Goro’s face.

Why had they entered the room at the same time? Were they friends? If so, Yosuke really had to start questioning Yu’s judgement.

“Why, hello, Goro-kun,” Yosuke grinned, hoping that the fact that he knew Goro’s name would throw the other boy off-guard. 

“Oh, hello, Yosuke-kun,” Goro responded with another of his “pleasant” smiles, as if it was no surprise that Yosuke knew his name. As if he himself hadn’t just revealed that he somehow knew Yosuke’s name without either of them introducing themselves to the other.

Yosuke, on the other hand, was doubly surprised. “How do you know my name?”

_There’s a name list hanging right beside the blackboard, dumbass._

“I don’t know, how do you know _my_ name?” Goro patted Yosuke on the head. “It seems I’ve met a stalker with a crush.”

“Why, you-”

“Yosuke, you know my roommate?” Yu asked.

Yosuke gave Goro a wary look. “Sadly, yes.”

“Now, that’s not a very nice thing to say, is it?” Goro laughed, but his eyes were telling a very different story. Yosuke felt a chill run down his spine.

“Well, it wasn’t very nice of you to say that my hair looks like clumps of orange straw, or that it seems like I want people to think I have a wide forehead!”

Goro shrugged. “I mean, was I wrong?”

Both of them turned to look at Yu, who promptly started twiddling his thumbs.

“Well, I would never have said it if you weren’t stupid enough to crash right into me in the hallway yesterday.”

“That was one time! I usually… never… do these kinds of things,” Yosuke tried not to, but his eyes were instinctively drawn to Yu once more. Sensing something amiss, Goro turned to look at Yu too.

Somehow, Yu became even more engrossed in his thumb-twiddling.

It was at that moment that the three of them heard footsteps racing towards the door of the classroom. Heels.

It took them a few seconds to realise that there were no heels included in the school uniform for girls.

It took them a few more seconds to realise that they needed to claim their seats straight away before they got in trouble.

All of them stood still for a few moments. Then, they raced towards the chairs. In his blind panic, Yosuke found himself sitting in the front row, and Goro, being a certified selfish prick cum teacher’s pet, had simply snatched the nearest seat, right next to Yosuke, separating him from Yu. 

Yosuke flashed Yu an apologetic look. which Yu met with sadness of his own. In a single gaze, Yosuke could feel the desperation of a thousand tragedies, as if he was the platonic Romeo to Yu’s Juliet.

And then the door opened, and their form teacher entered.

~...~

It turns out, they needn’t have worried.

Their form teacher, Kawakami, didn’t seem like the type to punish the class under any circumstances. If anything, the class was more likely to punish her. Her dark circles were so huge, they could have orbits of their own, and her frown lines suggested that she had spent most of her life under extreme stress.

Although it was definitely a little odd to have a teacher more depressed than her students, Kawakami’s rather defeated presence was only all the more obvious when contrasted with the familiar individual standing beside their new teacher. His black hair was as unruly as usual, but his eyes still possessed that same sharpness that Goro knew them for, at least when they weren’t hidden by his bangs.

They didn’t know each other very well. Goro was only aware of the most basic details - that he lived with Sojiro Sakura, that he was the same age as Goro, that he was an ex-convict on probation. Occasionally, when visiting the LeBlanc for a cup of coffee, the two of them would see one another, but otherwise, their interaction was rather limited. To some extent, Goro was definitely intrigued - the boy wasn’t bad looking by any means, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but look down on him for his violent impulses, and more importantly, his lack of self-control. Goro wasn’t against breaking the law, he just didn’t want to be caught doing so.

“Hi guys, welcome to Shugami High. I’m sure this year is going to be... wonderful,” Kawakami laughed, but somewhere in between, it turned into a sigh.

Her students watched her, silent.

“Oh right, this is Akira.” Kawakami gestured at the newcomer. “He’s late because the driver of the train he was travelling on experienced a mental shutdown.”

The mental shutdowns? Goro perked his ears up immediately. He’d read about it in the news, but as a witness, Akira could have seen something that hadn’t been reported. He’d have to be on guard, just in case.

“Woah, he’s kind of intimidating, isn’t he?” Yosuke murmured from beside Goro, his voice still too loud for Goro’s liking. Goro couldn’t for the life of him understand why Yu had befriended Yosuke so easily. 

“He’s alright. I’ve met far worse individuals in the police department.”

“But this is different. I mean, did you see the look in his eyes? And - oh god he’s coming this way!” Yosuke lowered his voice to a very audible whisper as Kawakami directed Akira to his new seat, right behind Goro.

“By the way, in case you didn’t read the orientation booklet, student council applications are open. Do apply quickly as applications close this week. Though I guess if you didn’t already know this, you shouldn’t apply either way…” Kawakami trailed off. Then, as if remembering something, her back snapped up straight and her eyes went wide. 

“Actually, forget I said anything! All of you should definitely apply!” Kawakami bowed her head wearily, mumbling something that Goro assumed had to do with bonuses from the school and needing a vacation.

Then, Akira took a seat behind Goro, who suddenly felt painfully self-aware.

~...~

  
  


“Hey, I really think we should try to befriend Akira,” Yosuke whispered to Goro.

“Why?”

“Because he’s sitting beside Yu?” Yosuke sighed. “Come on, it’ll be hard to talk to Yu if we’re self-conscious about a stranger overhearing, right?”

“Alternatively, we could concentrate on our lessons and only talk to one another once lessons are over?”

Yosuke laughed. “Oh come on now, Goro. Be serious.”

Goro simply stared at him.

“Wait, you _are_ being serious?”

“Some of us don’t have connections to the school, Prince of Junes. That’s why we have to work hard.”

_Instead, we have fathers that may or may not know we’re their sons who can help us bribe, cheat and otherwise manipulate our way into this school. Except they want us to do it ourselves. For, you know, character development, or something._

“That’s kind of harsh,” Yosuke said. “Anyway, I’m gonna befriend him because 1) he’s cool and 2) he’s probably my roommate. And also to show that you can’t stop me.”

“Now, hold on a second-”

“Hey, Akira.” Yosuke turned around, a bright smile on his face, “I’m Yosuke and these people are Goro and Yu. So, what was it like being involved in a mental shutdown incident?”

Goro sighed. If Yosuke were more patient, Goro could have explained how having horrible, unruly bangs and a disagreeable personality did not, in fact, a cool person make. Sadly, since Yosuke was a fucking dumbass, Goro’s intelligence and far superior judgement would go to waste.

“That’s not very polite, Yosuke. You should have at least tried to make small talk first.”

“At least I was polite enough to try to talk to him.”

“Oh,” Yu blushed. “I didn’t realise I should have…”

“No, I’m not talking about you.” Yosuke shook his head. 

All this while, Akira had been staring at Goro like a puzzle he had yet to crack. In response, Goro had been staring back at him, with what he assumed was his best smile. Akira didn’t seem very impressed.

“So, will you answer the question or not?” Yosuke asked.

“Sorry about that,” Akira laughed. “It was pretty normal, actually. They took down our names and listed us as suspects, then gave us some hotel rooms to stay in while they sent another bus to pick us up. Of course, I was of particular interest to them, being an ex-convict.”

Yosuke gasped, and Yu’s eyes widened. Goro felt a flutter of irritation flow through him. Was this seriously something to brag about?

“Really, dude? For what?”

“Guess.”

Yosuke crossed his arms, grumbling about rude people who refused to share secrets. Although he felt a desire to share the truth, Goro kept his mouth shut. This was Akira’s secret, not his, and he didn’t want to offend the person sitting right behind him. After all, doing so could have rather dire consequences, including but not limited to spitballs and subtle whacks on the back of one’s head.

When he met Akira’s gaze again, Goro was struck by a realisation - Akira hadn’t mentioned the fact that they knew each other. Or perhaps he simply hadn’t deemed it worthy of mentioning? The look in Akira’s eyes seemed to suggest that he had no intention of bringing it up, and frankly, that suited Goro just fine.

But then, the look in Akira’s eyes changed, and Goro found himself thrown off-balance.

“Actually, why don’t you ask Goro?” Akira said. “I’m pretty sure he knows what I was arrested for.”

“Yes, I am, in fact, aware of this,” Goro said testily, avoiding the questioning looks of the other two boys. “Akira and I have known each other for quite a while now. He lives in a coffee shop I frequent on the regular. Tragically, our acquaintance has always been rather periphery, though I do look forward to deepening our relationship.”

Goro could feel Yosuke rolling his eyes, but Akira just flashed a smile of his own. “As do I.”

“So, what was he arrested for?” Yosuke asked.

Goro glanced at Akira, but his face was serene.

“I would prefer not to divulge it.”

“But Goro, I already gave you permission.”

“Well, if you want the two of them to know so badly, you can tell them yourself.”

The four of them sat there in the silence that usually sprouts up when someone doesn’t understand the conventions of polite conversation.

Eventually, it was Yosuke who broke it. “Speaking of Akira’s introduction in front of everyone, what do you guys think about applying for student council? Kawakami kind of shoved it in at the end half-heartedly, but it might be worth a shot.”

Goro groaned. “Student council positions usually entail a lot of work with little to no appreciation or payoff. Based on Kawakami-san’s attitude towards the student council, it must not be very popular either, meaning that there’s little value in a position. Why would anyone apply?”

“Honestly, I’m thinking of applying,” Yu said, to Goro’s mortification.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about, partner!” Yosuke high-fived a bemused Yu.

Akira’s eyes widened. _Partner?_ He mouthed the word to Goro. Goro simply shrugged.

“It’s not that I disagree with you, Goro, it’s just that being a member of the student council has always been something that I’ve wanted to experience. It might simply entail doing the jobs of the teachers, but I think it can be fulfilling regardless.” This was the most number of words Goro had ever heard Yu say.

“Besides, if we join the student council, we’ll have an excuse to meet up with a group of girls every day!” Yosuke said with a grin.

“Wait,” Akira said. “So when you said Yu was your partner, you didn’t mean… romantically?”

“They’re polyamorous,” Goro said.

“Shut up, Goro. No, it’s not like that. Yu’s my partner, but we’re not gay!” Yosuke laughed. “Seriously, though, don’t you think it’s a great opportunity to meet girls?”

“Yes,” Yu said. “I’m very much into that. Of course.”

“You don’t need to join the student council to get a girlfriend. And joining the student council doesn’t mean anyone on the council will fall for you.” 

“Well, it’s not like you ever had trouble with options. Goro-kun doesn’t need to join the student council to meet women, they throw themselves at him,” Akira said. It was true, but for some reason, it still stung.

“They do? Seriously, dude?” Yosuke sighed. “God, I wish I was an Ace Detecti-”

“The four of you!” King Moron screeched, hurling his chalk smack into Yosuke’s forehead. “Do you have any idea how long the class has been waiting for you to shut up? 

Yosuke was about to say no when Goro kicked him beneath the desk, silencing him.

“As punishment, all of you have to make a presentation on the importance of listening to teachers. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir. I’m very sorry for our behaviour today,” Goro said. “We’ll be sure to make it up to you in our presentation.”

As Yosuke grumbled about the monument of tyranny that was King Moron, Goro felt Akira staring at him, watching.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Truth to be told, Goro revelled in the attention of other people. Hell, the boy basically lived his entire life on Instagram. It was true that his fans could go overboard sometimes, but it pleased Goro to know the lengths that his fans would go to grab his attention. It made him feel better about the lengths that _he_ went to grab the attention of other people.

However, Goro didn’t know what he could do to impress Akira Kurusu.

He’d never known. It was part of what had drawn him to Akira in the first place. Akira had seemed fascinated by Goro at first, but as time went on, he seemed disappointed, almost bitter. Goro had never met anyone who felt quite as intensely about him as Akira, and in such a peculiar way too.

It was hard to impress someone when you didn’t know what they were looking out for in the first place, but a part of Goro desperately wanted to. He knew that this desire to be admired had always been his fatal flaw, but it was far easier for him to say that he shouldn’t try to win the favour of other people than it was for him to actually do so. 

So, when he spotted Akira smirking at him as he bought curry from the canteen, he couldn’t help but feel a little miffed. Sure, he was buying curry because he missed Leblanc’s food, and sure, the curry was definitely not going to meet his expectations. Still, why was Akira smiling at him? What had he done that was so stupid?

Unbeknownst to himself, Goro had made a decision. Now that they were both attending Shugami, he was going to impress Akira Kurusu, no matter the cost.


	3. In Which Akira Becomes Goro's Househusband

Yosuke still couldn’t believe what was happening.

It had only been a day since school had begun, but Yosuke had already crashed into five people (though he’d bumped into Goro thrice, once on purpose), made revolutionary life decisions (signing up to be part of the student council) and befriended more people than he’d ever had in his life. And now, he was cooped up in his tiny room with said friends, working on a presentation that their teacher had assigned them. On the first day of school.

The ridiculousness of the task they had been given was something that Yosuke still couldn’t get over. He wondered if the school would give King Moron an award for innovative teaching methods.

When lessons ended, Goro had quickly excused himself to attend whatever criminal justice elective lessons he had. Yosuke knew that Goro was smart, but the fact that Goro was  _ that  _ smart still stung. Whatever, detective princes, right?

The other three students had quickly made their way to Yosuke and Akira’s room to discuss the presentation. Or at least they were planning to, til they saw exactly what Yosuke had brought with him to Shugami Academy.

“You brought a TV? And a Nintendo Switch? And an electric fan?” Akira darted around the room, somehow managing to find something to gawk at in every corner. “Seriously, this is amazing!”

Even Yu looked surprised, his mouth hanging open.

Yosuke averted his gaze. “My Dad’s a branch manager of Junes, so we get all kinds of free stuff.”

Yosuke wasn’t embarrassed by his father’s job, per se, but he didn’t like what it suggested about him. People always saw him as a spoilt child, and the worst part was, Yosuke didn’t exactly have any qualities that could prove otherwise. He’d always wanted to be seen as someone interesting and talented, someone with a personality that wasn’t just “spoiled idiot”, but such a task had quickly proven difficult. Hopefully, this year, he’d finally be able to find the understanding he’d been searching for in his friends.

“No kidding. God, a Nintendo Switch? Futaba’s going to be psyched!”

“Futaba?” Yu asked.

“Oh, Futaba’s my sister, sort of.” Akira narrowed his eyes, looking pointedly at Yosuke. “She’s still young. Don’t get any ideas.”

“Why are you only looking at me? Yu could try to get together with her too!”

“Y-yes, of course. That’s definitely a safe assumption to make.” Yu nodded.

Akira gave Yu a look that Yosuke couldn’t quite place. Then he ruffled Yu’s hair, an action that left him mortified and only put more questions in Yosuke’s head.

The three of them tried working on the presentation for a while, but inspiration simply didn’t come, due in no small part to the presence of a Nintendo Switch right next to them.

Perhaps it was Akira who spoke up first, or Yosuke, or maybe even Yu. But somehow, the three of them found themselves playing a far too intense game of Miss Kandy’s Kart Race. 

As expected, Akira was an incredibly aggressive player. He was never too afraid to take risks, and he made decisions without hesitation, never once slowing down to consider other options. 

Yu was the exact opposite, but his playing style was just as effective. He was slow and steady, but was confident about every decision. Unless he was attacked by the other players, he didn’t make a single mistake, gliding across the tracks perfectly.

Only Yosuke seemed to be having trouble. He never knew where he was going, and by the time he’d figured it out, someone else had used a power-up on him and he was launched backwards all over again. Yosuke had won a few times, but in truth, it had been because the two other players weren’t even paying attention to him at all, both assuming that he wasn’t worthy competition.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Akira paused the game and stood up to open it. In a few moments, a girl with loud, orange hair swung herself at Akira, sending him reeling.

“Akira! You have no idea how hard school is.”

“Of course I do, I go to school too.” Yosuke could see a distinct kindness in Akira’s gaze. It wasn’t exactly uncharacteristic, but something about him seemed softer now. Less rough around the edges.

“I swear to god, it’s like the other students are testing me. Why is everyone so stupid?”

“I can relate to that. Especially with Yosuke around.”

“Hey!”

It was at that moment that the orange-haired girl noticed the other two boys. Immediately, she jumped behind Akira, hiding from view.

“Akira, who are those people? Did you really make friends so quickly?”

“Futaba, these are my friends, Yosuke and Yu. Guys, say hi.”

Yosuke and Yu waved, but Futaba still appeared unconvinced.

“Are you sure they’re your friends, Akira? The guy on the left looks like some kind of upside-down broomstick demon, and the guy on the right has a bowl cut! And he dyed his hair grey! Seriously, what kind of weirdo dyes their hair grey?” 

Yosuke’s heart sank. For the second time in two days, someone had insulted his hair. Was it really so bad?

Beside him, Yu was fiddling with his hair as well, similarly self-conscious. “Yosuke, do you think I’m a weirdo?”

“No, no, you’re not a weirdo, Yu! Your hair’s just very distinctive, that’s all.”

“Look, Akira, broomstick-head’s lying. Isn’t that demonic? Don’t you think he’s a demon?”

“Why, you-”

“Calm down, everyone.” Akira laughed. “Futaba, we’re playing Miss Kandy’s Kart Race right now. Do you want my controller?”

“Nah, dude. If she needs a controller, she should take mine. I’ve been losing again and again anyways.” Yosuke handed his controller to Futaba, but she shook her head, looking up to examine Yosuke’s face.

“Damn, dude, your energy’s really low right now, huh? Just looking at you makes me feel kind of sad.”

“What?”

“It’s okay, broomstick-head. Instead of playing, I’ve decided to coach you!” Her glasses glinted in the light, almost like some kind of evil mastermind. Akira promptly told her to wipe them clean.

The game started as per usual. Candyland stretched forward endlessly, the roads littered with peppermints, chewing gum and lots and lots of bombs. Yu and Akira quickly raced ahead, leaving Yosuke behind them, left in the dust.

Soon, the three of them came to a fork in the road. Akira turned to the right, and Yu followed in hot pursuit. 

“Turn left,” Futaba whispered in Yosuke’s ear. Yosuke wasn’t sure if he should believe her, but since she was Akira’s sister, he might as well humour the young girl. 

“Left it is.”

As the race went on, Akira and Yu continued to attack one another, releasing flocks of birds to obstruct the other player’s vision and bumping each other against the tracks. Meanwhile, as he followed Futaba’s instructions, Yosuke strayed further and further from the group. Each round was randomised, with different routes and shortcuts created, but Yosuke soon found himself in a region that he’d never come across before. 

The cavern was far darker than the rest of Candyland, but cough drops glowed in the darkness, illuminating the licorice roads. Chocolate fountains splashed in the distance. And in front of Yosuke’s kart sat a glorious candy Sphinx. Its blue jellybean eyes lit up, and it opened its mouth.

“Yosuke, drive right in.” 

“Are you crazy, Futaba? I’m gonna be eaten.”

“Trust me, silly boy! As the person who doesn’t have broomstick hair, I think my judgement is better than yours.”

“Fine, fine,” Yosuke muttered begrudgingly as he drove his kart into the Sphinx’s mouth. “Carrothead.”

“Hey!”

When the kart entered the Sphinx’s maw, it stayed still for a few moments. Then, the Sphinx rose up. Flapping its cotton candy wings, it burst through the cave walls, soaring its way to the finish line. Akira and Yu used as many power-ups as they could, but it barely slowed the Sphinx’s descent. Eventually, it set Yosuke’s kart down, but not before it crossed the finish line, making Yosuke first.

Yosuke gasped. “Futaba, you’re amazing.”

The girl simply flashed a toothy smile. “I know.”

“I don’t understand,” Yu frowned. “What was that?”

“Every round of this game has a shortcut, it’s just hard to find. However, when you use the correct algorithms and pay special attention to certain details in the introduction, you can calculate exactly how to get there.”

“Holy shit, Futaba, you’re so smart it’s almost scary,” Yosuke said. 

Futaba grinned in response. “Eww, Akira, Yosuke’s trying to flirt with me!”

Akira glared at Yosuke with the intensity of a thousand suns. Yosuke shuddered.

“You know what, Futaba? I take it back. You’re  _ way  _ too scary.”

~...~

Shugami High was known for two things.

The first thing was what most students came to the school for - its facilities. The school had a state of the art library, a state of the art swimming pool, a state of the art rock climbing wall, and shitty dorms, though that was to be expected. All of that gave the school the resources it needed to give its students as enriching a school experience as they could possibly have.

The second thing was its Criminal Justice Elective. Budding detectives, policemen and criminals alike flocked to the school in an effort to learn more about the legal system and get a leg-up on their competition in various law-related establishments all around the country. The elective also came with the unique privilege of an opportunity to work with a real detective.

Goro scanned the other students appraisingly. There were five students in total. At the farthest end of the front row sat a student with blue hair, a blue hat, and a blue coat to match - the original detective prince, Naoto Shirogane. Their gender had never been confirmed by anyone, and they seemed content to keep it that way, but that hadn’t stopped the hordes of teenage male and female true crime fans from worshipping their every step. It sure hadn’t stopped fandom wars from erupting between Goro and Naoto’s fans either. Every time Goro read a post about Naoto being younger but more successful than Goro, he felt like printing out a picture of Naoto Shirogane and mutilating it with a penknife.

At the other end of the row sat a stoic girl, her brown hair shielding her face from view as she pored over her notes. Goro recognised her as Makoto Niijima, Shugami’s soon-to-be Student Council President. He hadn’t learnt much about her from Sae, but he knew enough to recognise the third year on sight. Though the two had similar demeanours, whilst Naoto radiated a certain cold independence and idealism, Makoto only seemed to believe in down-to-earth common sense.

In the final row sat two blondes, the only two students sitting side by side. Though one of them was a second year and the other a first year, the two seemed to have befriended one another. They’d probably realised that the other person was the only non-creep in the class and decided to latch onto one another. No matter, Chie Satonaka and Kanji Tatsumi were barely worth a moment’s notice. Makoto and Naoto were the ones he truly had to look out for.

Naturally, Goro placed himself in the front row as well, in the row right between Makoto and Naoto’s seats, pretending not to notice as everyone appraised him in turn.

After a few minutes, their new teacher, Dojima-san, walked in. A cigarette hung from his mouth. Goro tried to pretend that he didn’t notice Naoto wrinkling their nose in disgust.

“Hi everyone, I’m Ryotaro Dojima, but that’s Dojima to you fellas, alright?” Dojima laughed. No one else did. Goro bit his lip to stop himself from pointing out that there were technically only two (three?) men in the class.

“Alright, tough crowd, huh. Well, I must say, I’m very glad to see that all of you are so enthusiastic about the Criminal Justice system. Now, can everyone make a short introduction so everyone else in the room knows who you are?”

Dojima was met with more silence. He sighed. “Fine, then. Let’s play a game of introductions. I’ll start. Look at me. What guesses would you make about my character? How am I feeling right now?”

“You’re… frustrated?” Chie offered. 

“Excellent, Chie. Anyone else want to help introduce me?” 

“Your birthday is the sixteenth of May. You’re 41 years old this year. You have a daughter named Dojima Nanako.” Naoto continued.

“So, you’ve done your research. That’s good, I guess, if a bit creepy. But is there anything else?”

“You’re wearing your glasses for vanity,” Kanji said. “You don’t actually need them. You can see right through them.”

“Great answer. My spectacles have no lenses. Anything else?”

“You haven’t dyed your hair in a while. Your white roots are showing.”

“Your shirts aren’t ironed properly, probably because you depended on your wife to do so in the past.”

“You were planning to use this as an introduction strategy all along,” Goro said. The whole affair was too clean, too rehearsed. “After researching all of us, you knew exactly how we were going to behave from before you stepped into the room.”

Dojima grinned. “No shit, Sherlock. But it worked, didn’t it?”

“Criminal Justice is quite a dry course, and most of what you learn is very foundational and difficult to apply. However, as long as we have time, I’ll teach you all some tips when it comes to becoming a better law enforce. Does that sound good?”

Everyone nodded. Goro couldn’t stop a smile from blooming on his lips. Criminal Justice was going to be far more interesting than expected.

~...~

Akira was the happiest he’d been in a long time.

After they grew tired of playing with the Nintendo Switch, they found themselves bored to tears. None of them had felt like working on the presentation while Goro wasn’t with them, and besides, Futaba was there, and ignoring her would’ve just felt wrong. 

It was when Yosuke brought up (a little bitterly, Akira might add) how his friends in the girls’ dorm had cooked a meal for themselves that Akira was struck by an idea.

“Why don’t we cook ourselves some food too?” 

“Huh?” Yosuke seemed to jump backwards in shock. “But we don’t know how to cook!”

“That’s not true.” Futaba pointed at Akira. “This guy’s curry is amazing. You have to try it.”

Yu raised an eyebrow. “I know how to make curry too. Perhaps I could offer some assistance? 

“What? You mean I’m the only guy here who doesn’t know how to cook?” Yosuke asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Akira said.

“Yes,” Yu said with a slight smile.

“Yes,” Futaba said as well. Then she added “Stupid Yosuke!” And punched his head lightly.

“Hey!”

That was how the four of them had decided to cook curry together. Yosuke and Futaba had been tasked with the easiest tasks, namely, cleaning up the countertops and doing the washing. Meanwhile, Akira and Yu took charge of the cooking. They both had their own way of doing things, but their process was more similar than not, and they picked up a few tips from one another, 

“Oh my god, that smells amazing,” Yosuke gushed. “Yu, can I have a free sample, please?”

Akira watched the slightly flustered look on Yu’s face and grinned to himself. Everyone seemed blissfully obvious, including the two in question, but Akira was going to make sure that it didn’t stay that way for long. Someone had to push them in the right direction.

“Well,” Yu’s face steeled over, though frankly, it wasn’t much of a change. The boy didn’t have that many facial expressions in the first place. “I’m not too sure if that’s wise. Akira, what do you think?”

“I think that’s a great idea. We need to know if the flavour’s right, after all.” Casting his gaze on the various ingredients, Akira was struck by another idea. “Actually, give him some of these apple slices too. We have a few extras.”

Futaba opened her mouth, probably to say something along the lines of  _ Why are you begging for food like some desperate kid, Yosuke?  _ or  _ Akira, can you give me some apple slices too?”  _ But Akira gave her a disapproving look, shushing her. “Actually, can you feed him, Yu? Yosuke’s hands are really dirty and we don’t want them contaminating the food.”

Yosuke narrowed his eyes. “That’s kind of gay, isn’t it? But it’s fine, partner.” He opened his mouth wide. “Load me up.”

Akira almost choked. Futaba sniggered too (Akira was going to have to tell Sojiro about that), but somehow, the innuendo had gone unnoticed by these “platonic partners”. At least, Yosuke hadn’t noticed. Yu was hesitantly feeding him apple slices. Akira watched on, gratified to see a moment where Yosuke’s lips brushed against Yu’s fingers, and the way both of them reeled back afterwards, as if stung. 

“Well then, how’s the curry?” Akira asked. Yu held the spoon up to Yosuke’s mouth. 

“It tastes amazing!” Yosuke gasped. “Holy shit, what kind of sorcery is this? Yu, you really are a great cook!”

“Don’t forget about me,” Akira complained, but he couldn’t help but smile at the soft delight on Yu’s face.

“It does smell fantastic,” another voice said. Akira turned to see Goro Akechi in his full glory, his brown curls as perfect as ever, his eyes a metallic wine. 

Akira had known Goro for a long time, albeit at a distance. He’d first learnt about him through his numerous television appearances. The boy was a detective prince, all charm and beauty, the exact opposite of Akira, the most unruly, half-assed criminal the world had ever seen. If he could even be considered a criminal, at least.

When he was using Goro to deal with his sexual frustrations, Akira liked to think of himself as one. It made things a lot more… interesting.

Moving to LeBlanc had been a tough experience for everyone, but one of the biggest changes in Akira’s life was seeing Goro, the boy of his dreams, sitting at the counter every day. But for some reason, although Goro always treated Akira with the utmost politeness, Akira could still feel a certain coldness in Goro’s gaze. It was only when he’d overheard Goro talking to Sojiro about his criminal record that Akira realised why.

As the months had gone by, Akira had tried not to care about Goro Akechi. But the boy was beautiful, almost offensively so. Akira listened to his conversations with Sojiro about Leblanc, borderline stalking him as he helped Sojiro out at the counter. He saw the way Goro made sure every article of clothing he wore was up to standard, the smile on his face when he saw his interviews on television, and the calculated way he took a picture of everything he ate at the cafe. The detective prince was more of a peacock than anything, a dumb boy that inhaled attention like the people around him breathed air. But still, he was attractive, and Akira’s dick didn’t really care about much else. 

When Akira and Futaba had both been offered places at Shugami High due to their outstanding grades, Akira had leapt at the chance to distance himself from Goro. By now, he could see that this crush of his was probably rather unhealthy, and he needed to get rid of it.

So, of course, when Akira had seen Goro, the most condescending prick who he’d used as jerkbait for the majority of the previous year in his class, he’d decided to look back down on Goro. Suave, really. He watched Goro squirm uncomfortably, laughing at the way he yearned to please even someone he already saw as worse than himself.

If Goro only knew how easy it was for him to impress Akira.

“The curry smells exactly like Leblanc’s,” he smiled. There was some truth in that statement, but there was something unnatural in Goro’s delivery, something that seemed to demand Akira’s own affection. It pleased him, somehow, in an odd, sadistic way. “I didn’t know that Sakura-san taught you to cook curry too.”

“I mean, you pick up a lot when you’re working at the same place for an entire year.”

“Yes,” Goro laughed. “I suppose you do. I admit, though, I’ve been missing Leblanc’s food. I’ve tried eating the canteen’s curry, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, but it simply cannot compare.”

“I haven’t noticed, in fact,” Akira said nonchalantly. Goro wilted.

“I see. Well, if possible, could I stop by occasionally to eat your food? I’ll let you know in advance, of course. I’ll pay you as well. It’s just that I miss the taste of home.” Goro said. “I’m sure you relate to that as well.”

Akira nodded. “That’s fine with me.”

This game he was playing with Goro was a perilous one. If Goro caught on, the tables could be turned easily. All he could do was to make sure he wasn’t in too deep.

Sadly, he already was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Futaba's cool, but honestly, I don't know anything about game references. Miss Kart is clearly a reference to Mario Kart (which I've never played) but the name is also inspired by RuPaul's Drag Race and Ms. Paint's Art Race, a fashion illustration competition on Reddit. 
> 
> Anyway, after their criminal justice class ended, Naoto and Makoto immediately befriended each other by mocking how pretentious and extra Dojima's introduction was (because like, it was) and how Goro actually seemed excited by it (he shouldn't be, bless). Tragically, I didn't have any better ideas for whatever the fuck criminal justice is even about, but anyways, you'll be seeing more of Naoto and Makoto in the coming chapters.
> 
> Aww, cooking dinner for the boyfriend you've stalked online for so long who's actually a condescending influencer prick who just wants to be gay and do crime, how romantic. Really, though, this whole Akira-Goro game-tension thing is hard to describe, but basically, Akira's just trolling Goro while not revealing his true emotions. It's a bit weird, but in the coming chapters, he's going to pretend to pretend to flirt with Goro in order to tease him. 
> 
> Once again, thanks for reading, whatever whatever, big <3 to everyone, and I'll see you guys next time.


	4. In Which Matchmaking Happens (Unintentionally)

When Yosuke had applied to be a part of the student council, he’d expected more... resistance. 

To anyone that knew him, Yosuke was not the type to be part of the student council, or really, the type to be put in any leadership position at all. He was loud, tactless and impulsive, with a very unfortunate habit of hitting on every girl in sight. Certainly not the pride and joy of the school and most definitely not someone that people should be looking up to.

Yosuke was expecting to be eliminated sometime during the interview round, or perhaps simply ignored altogether due to his past disciplinary records or the influence of teachers like King Moron who he’d somehow managed to piss off in a few days.

But he’d made it. He and Yu both had. Without any trials whatsoever. They’d simply been slid a note by one of his teachers, who’d practically sniggered at them as he walked away. It was this last part that bugged Yosuke. Something didn’t seem right.

The student council meeting was to be held in the library. The moment lessons were over, Yu and Yosuke sprinted off to grab lunch at the canteen before heading to their meeting spot.

The library was surprisingly empty. Or maybe not so surprising, since the school year had just started and reading wasn’t exactly a popular hobby among students anymore. There were already three other students there - a serious brunette with intimidating red eyes, a strawberry blonde girl in a warm pink jumper and a boy with blue hair that fell delicately to the side of his face.

“Are the two of you Yosuke and Yu?” The brunette asked.

The two of them nodded.

“Welcome to the Student Council. I’m Makoto Niijima, the chairman, and this is Haru Okumura, our vice-chairman.”

Haru waved, the kind smile on her face sharply contrasting the more serious expression on Makoto’s face.

“And my name is Yusuke Kitagawa,” the boy with blue hair said. Then, he reached forward and grabbed Yosuke’s hand.

“Hey!”

Yu jolted upright, his eyes wide and fists clenched. The glare he sent Yusuke’s way could have burnt a hole in the other boy if he wasn’t so incredibly oblivious.

“Hold still. I’m trying to read your palm,” Yusuke said. “Since our names are so similar, don’t you think there could be some sort of psychic connection between us?”

Yosuke looked at Haru and Makoto with desperation, but the two of them simply shrugged.

“Just bear with it,” Makoto sighed. “It’s always like this with him.”

“So, what are we discussing today?” Yu asked, aggressively trying to ignore the way Yusuke was holding Yosuke’s hand.

“Don’t worry,” Haru said. “Some of the members haven’t arrived yet.”

At that moment, two students burst into the library, quickly taking seats at the same table, much to the chagrin of the elderly librarian. The noticeably fit boy introduced himself as Ryuji, and his companion Ann shared her name too. Yosuke and Yu introduced themselves in turn.

“Why did we choose to meet in the library, again?” Ann pretended to be highly engrossed in a book to avoid the librarian’s suspicious stares. “In here, we have to worry about being noisy all the time”

Ryuji rolled his eyes. “It’s because Makoto’s our student council president. Of course she’d want us to meet at the library - she practically lives here.”

“That’s not true,” Makoto’s face reddened. “I have plenty of other hobbies that aren’t related to our curriculum.”

“Like?”

Makoto didn’t answer.

“Well,” Haru said, “we fuck.”

“Holy fucking shi-”

“Let’s be nice to one another. We have some new members, after all.” Haru handed each student a cup of tea she’d prepared with a tea set she’d brought. “Before we start, let’s explain how the student council works.”

Makoto nodded. “Basically, we’re in charge of organising a rather large amount of school events - Lunar New Year celebrations, school festivals and the like. In order to represent the interests of various groups of students, each group of clubs appoints a representative. Ann represents the performing arts clubs, Ryuji represents sports clubs, while Yusuke represents clubs that are less competitive and more interest-based.”

Yusuke frowned. “Less competitive? The art club has attained gold awards in the regional evaluations for twenty years!”

“Like every other school in the region. The rest of us members are here out of legitimate interest. Anyway, to kick the school year off with a bang, we’re holding the culture festival at the end of the month.”

“That’s quite a lot of work, isn’t it?” Yosuke said, scratching his head.

The others stared at him. 

“Well, yeah, man. That’s what student council is about,” Ryuji said. “What were you expecting?”

“I… well…”

“He was expecting to pick up girls,” Yu said.

“Dude! You can’t just expose me like that.”

“Well,” Makoto said. “I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

Haru laughed. “Well, I’m afraid you won’t be very successful, Yosuke, unless you’re fine with dating Yusuke.”

“What?” Yosuke exclaimed.

“What indeed!,” Yusuke crossed his arms, indignant. “My standards are far higher than that. I’m interested in both men and women, certainly, but I’m certainly not interested in buffoons that only spout uncouth drivel.”

“I’m not a buff… buff…”

“I said buffoon,” Yusuke said disdainfully. “Look, this is exactly what I was talking about. We are not at all suited to one another.”

“I don’t know,” Ann said thoughtfully. “You guys have pretty similar names. Maybe that could be a turn-on?”

Ryuji nearly fell off his chair. “Ann, what the fu-”

“No vulgarity in the library!” The librarian screeched. The student council, pride of the school, looked away from him, shamefaced.

“You know, Ann, you might be right,” Yusuke said when he’d turned away.

Ryuji’s eyes bulged.

“Anyway, let’s come up with some ideas.” Haru retrieved a notebook. “Why don’t we all sip a bit of tea and go back to work?”

  
  


~...~

  
  


After half an hour, the list was as follows:

_Cross-Dressing Competition (You’d look beautiful, Yusuke. ~ Ann)_

_Talent Show with Club Performances_

_Have the principal pretend that someone has just been killed and that the school is under lockdown, Danganronpa style. Claim that it’s a social experiment later._

_Cross-Dressing Competition (You’d look beautiful, Yosuke. ~ Yu)_

_Communal Art Piece, preferably with blood._

_Swimsuit Modelling Competition judged by Ryuji (Male swimsuit modelling? - Ann)_

_Misogyny Competition judged by Makoto, Ann and Haru with random contestants picked from the audience and around the school._

_Teacher dunk tanks (Can Kobayakawa take it?)_

_Cooking Competition_

_Surprise Marathon/Fire Drill Combination_

“These are… ideas!” Haru said in what she hoped was an encouraging tone.

“Indeed. They might even be good ones,” Yusuke nodded diplomatically.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Makoto sighed. “Half of these suggestions are completely impractical. The only ones that are worth considering are the Cross-Dressing Competition, the Talent Show that we do every year, the Cooking Competition and the… Communal Art Piece.”

“Really?” Yusuke’s eyes widened.

“Without the blood, of course.”

“Then what’s the point?” Yusuke glared at the cup of tea before him, muttering something about _censorship_ and a _police state._

“But what about the dunk tank?” Ryuji frowned. “I was looking forward to dunking Kamoshida in a pool.”

“You know, Kamoshida will enjoy it because it’ll give him a chance to flaunt his muscles in front of everyone else. Besides, there aren’t enough teachers that would participate, except for maybe Kawakami, and we don’t want the boys to perv on her.”

Ann covered Ryuji’s mouth before he could respond.

“It’s not like all of those ideas are practical either,” Yosuke sighed. “I mean, who would sign up for a cross-dressing competition?”

Makoto looked at him in the eye. “I was hoping that all of you would sign up.”

All the boys were at once speechless.

“Think about it. The competition is definitely going to draw a crowd, and if all of you participate, there’s no way the competition won’t have enough contestants. It’ll make this year’s festival one to remember.”

“For all the wrong reasons!” Yosuke exclaimed. “I don’t want to be remembered as that one ugly crossdresser!”

“You wouldn’t be ugly, Yosuke,” Yu said.

“That’s beside the point…”

“Why don’t we put it to a vote,” Ryuji said. “If you support the cross-dressing competition, raise your hand.”

Predictably, all three girls raised their hands. The four boys did not.

“Great, as you can see, the cross-dressing competition is out of the question. Now-”

Yusuke raised his hand.

“Yusuke, what the hell?”

Yusuke looked a little stricken to be singled out. “I just thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to connect further with my feminine energies. Masculinity and femininity are both vital parts of an artist’s craft.”

“Dude, what the hell!” Ryuji tried yanking his friend’s hand down, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Great! That’s settled,” Makoto sent Yusuke a gratified look. “We’ll look forward to seeing all of you in dresses, then!”

“I’ll do your makeup, Ryuji!” Ann giggled.

Yosuke couldn’t do anything but stare at the floor. This was the worst day of his life.

“Come on, Yosuke,” Haru said. “Drink some tea. It’ll calm your nerves.”

~...~

Goro had been glad when Criminal Justice class ended. So far, aside from teaching them the actual syllabus, which Goro was already rather familiar with, Dojima was covering the basic facts of the mental shutdown cases, which Goro was also rather familiar with. He didn’t think all this was very necessary - the mental shutdowns were the most important events happening in Japan. Every politician had to have an opinion on them and even the youngest students were worried that their parents would have mental shutdowns. Surely everyone already knew all the facts on the mental shutdown cases.

Well, perhaps “everyone but Chie and Kanji” would be more realistic. The lack of knowledge they possessed was so vast it was almost impressive.

“You mean you didn’t know that the last Prime Minister died from a mental shutdown?” Dojima asked incredulously.

Chie scratched her head. “I mean, that was five years ago…”

“Plus he was really old,” Kanji grumbled. “Maybe he just kicked the bucket because of Alzheimer’s or something.”

Goro took a moment to remind himself that this was one of the most prestigious programs in the country with a very rigorous selection process that even he had to go through.

“This isn’t a joke, Kanji,” Dojima sighed. “The death of the Prime Minister is one of the most important events in recent history. It sent the country into disorder. Crime rates shot higher and people started turning towards more conservative politicians to get the country under control. A climate of fear loomed over Japan. You should consider yourself lucky that you were too young to remember any of it.”

“How serious was it, Dojima-san?” Makoto asked.

Dojima paused. “When the Prime Minister died, there were riots. There were many casualties during those riots, including… my wife.”

The murmurs around the class died instantly. Everyone was staring at Dojima, waiting for him to continue.

“I’m not going to say it isn’t a big deal because it is. My wife’s death is the reason why I’m so invested in the mental shutdown cases anyway. However, rest assured - my emotions will never come between me and my responsibilities as your teacher. Now, let’s continue with the lesson.”

The class nodded and got back to work. But something wasn’t quite the same. The weight of Dojima’s revelation pressed down on them, suffocating them. The things that had happened, the different victims - they were no longer just simple case studies. They were real and personal, and that made everything far more serious. By the time lessons were over, Goro couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief.

Usually, on stressful days like this, Goro would have visited Leblanc for a nice cup of coffee and a plate of curry. Sadly, that was a luxury he could no longer indulge in.

But old habits die hard. Subconsciously, Goro found himself moving away from the school campus and into the shopping district in search of high-quality coffee and curry that he knew he wouldn’t be able to find.

The roads were dimly lit by neon signs and billboards, an assault of colour and words that Goro couldn’t be bothered to read. Students and office workers alike swarmed the bustling streets, some nibbling on street food, others trying their best to make their way home in spite of their drunken stupors. The air smelled of cigarette smoke and fried batter.

As Goro scanned the shops for a place to eat, he found himself staring at a familiar mop of dark hair. Akira Kurusu was fifty metres away from him in a glittering sequin suit… serving drinks at a bar?

Goro walked towards the other boy, half out of curiosity and half because he was so shocked that he couldn’t think of doing anything else. The bar was rather crowded, but Goro managed to take a seat right in front of the bartender - Akira himself. 

“What are you doing here?” Goro said stupidly.

“I could say the same to you.”

“You’re mixing cocktails. As a 17-year-old. The legal age for alcohol is 20!” Goro could feel the hysteria in his voice. LeBlanc with Akira as its barista would have relaxed him perfectly. The presence of Akira as the bartender of a more “mature” establishment such as this only added to his stress.

“I’m not drinking the cocktails, I’m making them,” Akira rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you the more suspicious one? Entering a bar when you’re only 17? So much for being an Ace Detective.”

Goro gritted his teeth. He could go, of course. He should go. But if he did, what would Akira think of him?

He plastered a smile onto his face. “You know what, Akira? I’d like to order a drink.”

For the first time in his life, Goro saw Akira’s eyes widen with surprise. But his expression quickly smoothed into a suave grin of his own. ”What drink would you like then? Plain water?”

“I don’t know, whatever drink you think suits me best.”

“Even if it’s a straight-up shot?”

Goro hesitated slightly, but it was too late to chicken out now. He had to see this to the end. “Sure. Even if I drank myself silly here, what could you do about it?”

Akira laughed. “Oh, not much. Just take a photo of you in a bar and upload it on Instagram for all your adoring fans to see.”

“Y-you wouldn’t!” Goro looked around him uneasily. Then he removed his blazer and retrieved a hoodie and a scrunchie from his bag, wearing the former and using the latter to tie his hair in a ponytail.

“That’s quite the transformation.”

“It is,” Goro said. He couldn’t tell if Akira was being sarcastic or not, but it never hurt to inflate one’s ego. 

“For the record, you don’t have to disguise yourself here. This is a gay bar. No one’s going to take a photo of you and out you to the rest of the world. Most of our customers aren’t even out to their own families.”

It was only after Akira had mentioned how the bar was a gay one that Goro noticed the drag queens performing in one corner, the men with their arms wrapped around each other, and several androgynous-looking individuals. With a start, Goro realised that one of them was Naoto Shirogane. Who was staring straight back at him.

Goro raised an eyebrow. “Why do you assume that I’m not a cis straight man like everyone else?”

“Well, are you?”

“Why,” Goro smiled. “Interested?”

Once again, he’d caught Akira off-guard. But just as quickly, Akira said: “And so what if I am?”

Now it was Goro’s turn to be taken aback. He straightened his tie self-consciously. “Well, I’m very flattered.”

“As you should be. I don’t just fall for anyone, you know.” Goro assessed the wolfish expression on Akira’s face. The other boy was teasing him. With a few final quick hand movements, he finished Goro’s drink, handing Goro the frothy mixture in a glass. 

Goro eyed the drink with suspicion. He lifted it to his nose, pretending to savour the aroma, but mostly to ensure that he wasn’t getting poisoned. The drink looked like normal champagne, but it had an oddly fruity scent, like mango and peaches.

“What is it?”

“Scented plain water,” Akira responded. “All appearances and no substance. Does that sound familiar to you”

“Very funny,” Goro snorted. Either way, it seemed as if the drink was safe. He lifted it to his lips. 

In truth, the drink tasted nothing like water. Instead, it was a frothy explosion of fruity flavours, with only the slightest hint of alcohol. It was surprising, perhaps, but Goro liked it. 

All the while, Akira watched him, his face impassive. 

Goro asked. “It’s actually quite pleasing.”

“It’s something Lala-chan calls Baby Beer. Essentially, it looks like a type of alcohol, but it’s mostly fruit juice with a slight kick.”

“Can I assume this means the same thing as your plain water example?”

“No, this means I find you childish.” Goro snorted, but Akira was serious. “I mean, what about your Instagram profile screams professional adult? You’re a kid crying out for attention. Do you see Naoto doing anything like that?”

Goro frowned, but he couldn’t refute Akira’s statement. So he decided to change the subject instead. “I didn’t think that Naoto would be a regular here.”

“Even though they’re openly androgynous and won’t tell anyone their gender?”

“Honestly, I haven’t really thought a lot about Naoto.”

“Unless you’re thinking about how their fans measure up to yours.”

Goro sighed. “You think you have me all figured out, don’t you?”

“Well, am I wrong?”

“Yes, actually. I also think about whether our Criminal Justice teacher prefers them to me.”

Akira laughed. It was a laugh that spread throughout his body, one that made him shake from his head to his toes. Goro wasn’t expecting such a reaction, but he was happy to see it. 

“Well, it’s good that you’re self-aware.”

Goro took another sip from his drink. “By the way, how were you able to get a job so quickly?”

“Connections.”

“Those must be some connections,” Goro laughed, “especially considering your-”

 _Criminal record._ Goro snapped his mouth shut, startled by what he’d said, but by then, it was too late.

“Wow, fuck you, Goro,” Akira said.

“I… that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what exactly did you mean?” Akira crossed his arms. 

“I just thought it would be difficult…”

“Well, maybe it was. Or maybe, this is a seedy establishment that hires ex-convicts, full of people that’ll take your picture and ruin your reputation online with this bar’s disrepute.” Akira wrenched Goro’s glass away. “Forget it. Don’t come here again. It doesn’t suit you.”

“Are you kicking me out?” Goro asked, slack-jawed.

“Yes. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

With a face blushing with injured pride, Goro stood up from the counter and left the bar, making sure not to look back. 

Back at the bar, Akira buried his face in his hands, his heart blistering with hurt and rage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol what
> 
> Anyways, welcome to the student council! Initially, Teddie was one of the members too, but his presence just didn't feel right, so I killed him off. Yes, Teddie is Dojima's wife.
> 
> Well, I'm glad this chapter's over and done with because from now on, Akira and Goro are going to "ironically" flirt with one another to catch each other off-guard, which is the flimsiest excuse I have ever heard.
> 
> Once again, thanks for reading!


	5. In Which The Gays' "Fake" Flirting Confuses Everyone Else

Aiya was so crowded that Yu and Yosuke had only just managed to grab two seats at the counter. It was only their second time there, but somehow, it already felt like their spot. The place they belonged. As partners.

Yu had only known Yosuke for a week, but he was already one of the closest friends Yu had ever had. 

Yosuke was the sort of person that didn’t think too much into things. That wasn’t to say he was stupid, because he wasn’t. He had been able to see in Goro what Yu could not, and in so doing bring out the uptight asshat that lay beneath that polished exterior. At the end of the day, the impulsiveness that Yosuke possessed was, in its own way, a gift - it made him the most genuine person that Yu had ever met. Whenever Yu talked to Yosuke, he always felt as if the other boy had nothing to hide.

The light from above the stoves illuminated Yosuke’s face, casting long shadows as he spoke, his eyes crinkling with a smile. It was this innocence that Yosuke had that made his smile so infectious. Its warmth was so bright and unguarded, Yu couldn’t help but smile as well, his heart soaring and soaring. 

Yu still couldn’t understand why Yosuke was so intent on befriending him. It wasn’t as if he was the best cook, or the best conversationalist, or the nicest person in general. In fact, Yu often found himself fading into the background. But somewhere in Yu, Yosuke had seen something special. And Yu would do all he could not to lose it.

“Oh, your cheek,” Somehow, a stray piece of cabbage had found itself sitting on Yosuke’s face. 

“Huh? Is there something there?” Yosuke tried using his hand to flick it away, but he kept missing the spot entirely. Laughing, Yu raised his hand to Yosuke’s face.

The warmth of Yosuke’s face was electric. Yu took it in all at once, the smooth silk of his skin, the confusion in his wide golden eyes, and the tender rose of his lips…

At that moment, the door opened with a soft ring of wind chimes. Goro entered the restaurant, flashing his trademark smile. “Hello, fancy seeing the two of you here.”

“I- err.. was helping Yosuke with this piece of cabbage on his face,” Yu quickly removed it, trying to avoid the gaze of the other boys. He didn’t understand exactly what he was feeling, but he certainly wasn’t going to discuss it in front of the other boys.

“Mind if I join you?” Goro asked, that same smile still hovering on his face.

“Not at all, man,” Yosuke’s eyes were furrowed. There was clearly something he was seeing in Goro’s expression that Yu wasn’t.

Goro ordered a beef bowl for himself, before sitting himself to Yosuke’s left. That was something else about Yosuke that Yu had noticed - whether or not they liked his personality, Yosuke’s genuine nature naturally endeared him to everyone. In some way or another, they trusted him, even those as private as Goro. Even those as private as Yu himself.

“What happened?” Yosuke asked the moment the cook’s back was turned away from them.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s not true. What happened?”

“You must be mistaken,” Goro laughed. “It’s the first week of school. What could possibly be bothering me?”

“Bottling things up isn’t going to solve anything, Goro,” Yu said. “If you truly need help, please let us help you. After all, what are friends for?”

Goro sighed. “Fine. I saw Akira working at a pub.”

Yosuke raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what?”

“Exactly, it’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Especially since he isn’t above legal age. How could he spend his time in such unhealthy environments around people who could easily take advantage of him? Particularly when most of them are under the influence?” Goro shook his head. Yosuke seemed to accept this at face value, but Yu could see a certain theatricality in Goro’s words. 

“Is that everything that happened with Akira?” He asked gently.

“That really is the end of it. Akira didn’t want to hear about how unhealthy his working environment was, so the two of us had a bit of a falling out. I only wish I could have changed his mind.”

Yosuke raised an eyebrow. “Really? I always thought Akira was more sensible than that.”

Yu nodded. “So did I. Goro, is that really all that-”

“I don’t have dementia, Jesus Christ!” Goro snapped. The other two boys stared at him. Seconds later, a smile was back on Goro’s face. 

“Sorry about that, I suppose I’ve been under quite a bit of stress lately. Responsibilities, you know?” Goro stood up.

“Goro, I-”

“Speaking of which, I should probably head back. Sir, could I have my beef noodles as a takeaway instead?” Goro stood away from his two friends, waiting at the other end of the countertops. It took five minutes for the cook to finish, but Goro stayed put, as if there wasn’t a seat beside his friends at all. When he left, he didn’t even bid the other two farewell, closing the door with a clink.

Yosuke whistled. “Damn, that was rough, huh?”

Yu nodded, but inside, he was already looking for a solution. 

  
  


~...~

  
  


In the minutes before the official start of the school day, Kawakami approached Yosuke and Yu.

“Hey, the two of you are in the student council, right?”

The two of them nodded.

“Then, could you help me with the announcement for the cooking competition?”

“No way, man! I mean, girl. I mean… teach?” Yosuke scratched his head. “Whatever. Either way, we aren’t going to tell-”

“We’ll do it,” Yu said.

“Thank you so much,” Kawakami sighed, quickly walking back to the teacher’s table.

“Why did you do that, partner?” Yosuke asked. “Do you have a teacher kink or something?”

For some reason, Yosuke imagined Yosuke dressed as a teacher. “Maybe?”

“What the hell, dude?” Yosuke shook his head. “Whatever. I just don’t see why we have to do all this extra work.”

“Kawakami-san’s clearly having a stressful time. I thought it would be nice to help out.”

Yosuke stared at Yu. “You’re kind of a weirdo, you know?” He grinned. “But I guess that’s why we’re friends.”

Yu smiled back, and for a moment, as he gazed into Yosuke’s eyes, he felt something stir from deep within him, the truth bursting from his chest. But just as quickly, it was gone, and Kawakami was calling for them to make a presentation to the class.

As Yu and Yosuke stood up, everyone in the room turned to look at them, their eyes unflinching. A younger Yu would have been nervous, but he’d learnt a long time ago that what other people thought of him didn’t matter. As someone whose parents moved around often, it was difficult to care about such things when he was always going to leave.

“Hello, everyone. We’re Yu and Yosuke from the student council, and we’re here to announce the cooking competition that will be happening during the culture festival at the end of the month.”

The class erupted in murmurs. 

“Why the fuck is it happening so early this year?” A student asked.

“Why not?” Yu answered.

“Why a cooking competition?”

“Don’t you guys want to eat the food that the girls’ cook?”

The class nodded in agreement. Nothing like casual patriarchal stereotypes to appease the lowest common denominator.

“Well, who’s going to participate?”

A bunch of girls raised their hands, but this was met with groans.

“Seriously, Yumi? Your food’s always way too salty for some reason.”

“At least I don’t add black food colouring to everything like Marie.”

“W-well, at least that doesn’t affect the quality of the food. Ayane always cries into everything she prepares!”

“I… I don’t…” A girl that Yu presumed was Ayane started crying uncontrollably, nearly falling over with the force of her tears. The students around her quickly gave her space, urging her to sit down.

Afterwards, the class was silent. It seemed as if no one who could cook was willing to cook, and no one who was willing to cook made food that anyone would be willing to eat.

“How about this?” Yu sighed. “Yosuke and I will represent the class. I’ve always cooked for myself and Yosuke can learn from me.”

The class reacted appreciatively, with quite a few admiring whispers about “men who can cook”.

“But we still need two more people to help us as our backup team.”

The class’ spirits sank again.

“Goro has a food blog, doesn’t he?” Yu whispered in Yosuke’s ear. “Maybe the class can pressure him to help.”

“Oh yeah!” Yosuke exclaimed. “Goro, don’t you have a food blog?”

“Me?” Goro asked, his face a little pink.

“Oh yeah, Goro-kun has a food blog! He would make a great addition to the team. I can’t wait to see how delicious his food is!”

“I guess if I can’t eat food cooked by a girl, a pretty boy would be the next best thing. Not saying that I’m gay, of course. Definitely not saying that I’m gay!”

“Girl, the only full course meal I have in my mind is Goro-kun’s voluptuous-”

“I accept,” Goro said with barely disguised panic. It was still hidden behind a smile, of course, but his emotions were so obvious that Yu couldn’t believe that his other classmates didn’t seem to notice it. He made a mental note to worry about it later. 

But for now, he had bigger fish to fry. After Goro had joined the team, most members of the class were now volunteering their skills as cooks. The fight was almost getting violent as people pushed each other’s hands down, kicking each other in the shins. 

Then, Akira stood up. “I’ll be the final member of the team.”

The room fell silent. Everyone stared at Akira in amazement.

“Since I’m Yosuke’s roommate, I think I’d be bothered by their rehearsals anyway, so I might as well join in. Besides, as I’m sure everyone who came by asking for free samples knows, I make a mean curry.”

The world seemed to hold still for a few moments.

“That was really cool, wasn’t it? Damn, that guy’s impressive.”

“He’s right about his curry. I ate a sample of it a few days ago and got so hungry I had to cancel my dick appoint-.”

“I’ve needed to pee for ten minutes now, but this whole debacle has gone on for so long that I don’t know when to ask Kawakami for permission.”

“If you need to pee, you can just exit the room.” Kawakami announced. At once, five different students stood up and raced out the door.

“So, are there any objections?” Yu asked. “If not, then it’s official. Akira’s the final member of our team.”

Yu smiled as he returned to his seat. His plan had gone perfectly. If the two of them didn’t make up by tonight, it was their own problem. But for now, he’d allow himself to delight in a job well done.

  
  


~...~

  
  


After school, Makoto had sent a message to the newly formed student council group chat, asking them to meet in the library after having their meals. But after a long, tiresome ten minutes of wrangling from all sides, she’d finally agreed to hosting the meeting in her and Haru’s dorm room.

It was a nice enough place. Pink curtains adorned the windows, and each girl’s books and files were shelved neatly. Haru had also brought a nice amount of pillows, all of which she readily arranged around a small foldable table. Yu sat on one, noting with slight surprise that Haru was boiling yet another kettle of tea. Perhaps it was a sort of custom? A part of Yu wanted to help Haru, but she clearly enjoyed her task, so he allowed himself to lay back and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere.

“Aren’t you guys a little shy about inviting guys to your room?” Yosuke asked, but Haru had only laughed. Yu shook his head. For someone so perceptive, Yosuke had an astonishingly bad gaydar.

“They’re dating, Yosuke.”

“Wait, really?” Yosuke blinked rapidly, as if struggling to process Yu’s words. “You’re gay, Haru?”

“Does that change the way you see me?” Haru asked, her hand on the kettle’s handle. Yu had the sudden feeling that if Yosuke were to give an answer she didn’t like, she would bash his head in with all the force of a battering ram.

“No, not at all,” Yosuke said. “It’s different, that’s all.”

“For real? I’d have thought you and Yu were together, with you calling him partner and - ow!” Ryuji flinched. “Why the hell did you pinch me, Ann?”

“You shouldn’t put people on the spot like that, Ryuji,” Ann said with a glare. “But to be honest, I was thinking the exact same thing.”

“As was I,” Yusuke nodded. “The tender yet passionate budding of your young love is truly a sight to behold.”

“Nah, we’re just great friends!” Yosuke laughed. “It’s funny, our friends Goro and Akira thought the same thing too! I mean, can you imagine that partner? If we were gay?”

Most of Yu wanted desperately to nod, but the more intellectual part of Yu that focused on self-preservation compelled him to keep his head still. With his jaw clenched.

Unbeknownst to him, everyone in the room that wasn’t Yosuke had noticed this incriminating detail. Thankfully, though, they all kept silent, preserving the sanctity of Yosuke’s rather awkward “no homo” worldview.

After this mildly exciting exchange, the student council began to think about the logistics required for each event, as well as the people they had to contact to organise said events. All of them sat hunched over their laptops, each one moving at a snail’s pace, but too self-conscious to ask the other students if they were experiencing the same issue.

Except for Makoto, of course. Makoto was always working at breakneck speed, which gave Haru the perfect excuse to avoid work by pouring her girlfriend cups of tea, which were always accepted with gratitude by Makoto, but regarded with contempt by the rest, who were far too tired to put up with PDA too. Yu was particularly annoyed by it, though he wasn’t very sure of the reason why. If he’d asked anyone that wasn’t Yosuke, they would have been able to provide him with the answer (it rhymes with bealousy). 

Eventually, it was Ann that gave in, leaning backwards and away from the table. “I can’t take it anymore. How are you guys able to keep working? This is driving me crazy!”

“Patience, Ann,” Makoto chided. “See, everyone’s doing great. You can do the same too.”

“Actually, I’m not doing so good either,” Ryuji groaned, lying down beside Ann. “There’s way too much to do, man.”

The rest of the boys did the same, each one muttering a small excuse.

“Is it… really that exhausting?” Makoto frowned. “Have you been doing alright, Haru?”

Haru was smiling as per usual, but she shook her head slightly. “Sorry, babe.”

“Fine, let’s take a break,” Makoto lay down on the floor, joining the rest of her team. “Honestly, I’m tired as well.”

“Really?” Yusuke said. “I always thought you were a pillar of strength for our little community.”

“I am. I’m just a little exhausted. Criminal Justice and Student Council President aren’t responsibilities that are easy to juggle, you know?”

“You can always talk to me, darling.”

“Thanks, Haru.”

Yosuke tapped Yu on the shoulder. _Pet names, partner!_ he mouthed.

The irony of the situation smacked Yu in the face so hard it felt like Haru’s kettle of death.

“Anyway, why don’t we play a game?” Ann sat up with a cheery grin. “After all, there’s no better way to destress.”

Ryuji rolled his eyes. “We could always sleep.”

Haru nodded. “Or drink more tea.”

“Or create an enchanting art piece about the endlessly devouring nature of passion.” Yusuke ventured. “I’m imagining a pregnant woman with her child bursting forth from an abyss in her stomach.”

“Okay, maybe not that,” Yosuke said.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Yu lied. Yusuke looked back with such intense trust and joy that Yu couldn’t help but look away with guilt.

“Can’t we all just have some fun?” Ann sighed. “Come on, a quick game of truth or dare can’t hurt. Who’s with me?”

Her question was met with silence. Then, Ann glared at Ryuji, who promptly raised his hand.

“Is that even allowed?” Yosuke said.

“Do you want her to threaten you instead?” Yu asked back. Yosuke shuddered and turned away.

“Honestly, I’ve always been a sucker for a pretty girl,” Yosuke said to Yu as he raised his own hand.

“Thank you so much, Yosuke!” Ann beamed.

“Damn, partner.” Yosuke said. “That felt kind of nice.”

Before Ann could glare at anyone else, Yu raised his hand as well.

“Great!” Ann cheered. “I knew I could count on you, Yu!”

“You’re only saying that because he’s supporting you,” Ryuji grumbled, but was quickly silenced.

Yosuke nudged Yu. “Well, I guess you’d do anything for a girl too, huh?” 

Yu shrugged.

“Since we have a majority, let’s begin!” Ann rapped the table with her hands, prompting the rest of the council to sit up. 

“I find such games incredibly fascinating,” Yusuke remarked. “They’re driven by social pressure and sadism. Yet, this inner darkness within us all has always been present, and these games only serve to bring them to light. This would be an incredible subject for an artistic piece.”

“I’m glad you’re on board,” Ann said. “Now, who wants to go first?”

“I will,” Ryuji said. “Ann, truth or dare?

“Truth.”

“Who in this room are you most uncomfortable around?”

Yosuke and Yu stared at each other, both looking as if they’d just had a stroke. Neither of them had realised that Truth or Dare would be this brutal. Ann herself seemed a little uncomfortable.

“What the heck, Ryuji? You can’t ask questions like that. It makes things so awkward…”

“Just answer the damn question.”

Ann sighed. “Fine. Yusuke.”

Yusuke gasped. “Why me? I thought we were the closest of friends.”

“We are! It’s just that I’ve never been able to get over the time you wanted me to model for you without wearing anything at all.”

“That was for the beauty of my art!” Yusuke crossed his arms, appalled.

“More likely the satisfaction of your dick,” Ryuji snickered.

“And why, Ryuji, do you care so much about my dick?”

“I… that’s…”

“Well, on to the next person! Yosuke, what are you going to do?”

Yosuke scanned the room hesitantly, but his eyes eventually found their way back to Yu.

“Partner, truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Honestly, sexual questions are the most fun, so I’m glad I’m asking you this question and not Ann or the other girls. Partner, what are some of your biggest kinks?”

“I… Yosuke!” Yu blushed, momentarily speechless.

“Yosuke Hanamura!” Makoto said sharply.

“That was out of line, bro,” Ryuji sighed.

“What did I do?” Yosuke protested. “Yu’s a guy, I’m a guy. What’s wrong with that?”

Ann shook her head. “Yosuke, that was too direct. You can’t just ask a guy something like that. You should know better.”

“Says the girl who threatened half the people in this room into participating in this game.”

“I did not!”

Yu took in a deep breath, calming his emotions. “It’s fine, I’ll answer his question. I have a certain liking towards the whole maid thing, but I prefer to take care of other people rather than be served. Furries are odd, but I understand the appeal of animal ears, and maybe a tail as well. I also have a slight thing for suits.”

 _And you would look great in every single one of those things._ Yu blinked. He didn’t know why he’d thought that, but he knew it was true.

“Damn, dude, TMI,” Ryuji said. “Couldn’t the two of you talk more about it in private instead?”

Yosuke sighed. “I told you, the two of us aren’t toge-”

“It’s your turn, Yu!” Ann said with a smile.

Makoto sighed. “Ann, why do you keep interrupting-”

“Everyone, drink some more tea,” Haru ordered. After everyone had begrudgingly followed her instructions, she gestured to Yu to continue. 

“Yusuke, truth or dare?”

Yusuke raised an eyebrow. “You dare drag me into this tomfoolery? Well, I will answer your pleas. Truth!”

“Why did you ask Ann to model for you in the nude?”

“I… f-for my art, of course!” Yusuke stuttered.

Ryuji snorted. “Like that’s all you were hoping for.”

Yusuke clasped his hands together. “Fine. I was also hoping that, being suspicious of my intentions, she would bring one of her friends along. Who would then, perhaps, hope to model in her place. Perhaps.”

A friend? What friend could that be? Yu found his eyes - and the eyes of nearly everyone else in the room - moving towards one Ryuji Sakomoto.

Ann’s eyes widened. “Yusuke-”

“I’m not continuing this discussion.” Yusuke turned away from the table, his cheeks burning. “It’s my turn anyway, isn’t it? Yosuke, truth or dare.”

Yosuke grinned. “That’s exactly what I was waiting for. Dare!”

“I dare you to kiss someone in this circle.”

The other members of the council began to protest, but Yosuke nodded. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“You don’t have to do it if it makes you uncomfortable,” Haru said, but Yosuke brushed her off.

“It’s fine, I’m a big boy. I can handle things like this. It’s no biggie.”

He looked around the room anxiously, the dread plain on his face. Then, he took Yu’s hand.

“Sorry, partner,” he whispered as he planted a kiss on Yu’s index finger, sending a ripple of goosebumps up the other boy’s arm. “It’s just that I don’t know anyone else in the circle, and I know that you wouldn’t really judge me, so I…”

“It’s fine,” Yu smiled, putting an arm around Yosuke’s shoulders. “It’s only a small kiss.”

It was only then that Yu realised all the other members of the council were staring at the both of them.

Haru, who was sitting on Yusuke’s right, was the first to break the silence.

“Yosuke, truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Are you and Yu really not dating?”

  
  


~...~

  
  


Goro couldn’t take it anymore.

He’d tried his best to strike up a conversation from the moment their classes ended for the day. He’d tried doing so while they were leaving the classroom, while they were walking towards the nearest grocery store, even as they were selecting the ingredients they were going to purchase. It was hard to tell if Akira wanted the apples or not when the only responses he was giving were grunts and sighs. Eventually, Goro had simply decided to sit back and let Akira do all the work.

Even now, in the kitchen, Akira refused to speak. He’d simply started dicing some garlic, leaving Goro to do whatever he wanted to.

It was driving Goro crazy.

So of course, in typical Goro fashion, he asked politely and hoped for the best.

“Akira, what are you cooking first?”

Akira just responded with a slight shrug.

“Akira, if you don’t tell me what you’re cooking, I can’t do anything to help you.”

Akira started chopping the garlic with more force, drowning the room in sound.

“Akira, please. Don’t act like a child.”

“Yes, everyone’s a child to mature, smart, pretty detective boy Goro-kun. He knows so much more than everyone else, especially an ex-convict like me! Long live Goro-kun.”

“That’s not what I meant yesterday,” Goro said. “Wait, you think I’m pretty?”

But Akira had started chopping again, and Goro couldn’t get a word in.

“Akira, Yu and Yosuke are counting on us to represent the class. We can’t continue interacting like this. Do you really want to let them down?”

“Emotional manipulation, huh? Real cute. Didn’t your parents teach you better?”

Goro bit his lip. For a few moments, the only sound in the room was that of the cleaver against the chopping board. “No, they didn’t.”

“Well, that explains-”

“I’m an orphan.”

Akira stopped. Then, he turned to face Goro. “That’s rough, dude.”

Goro laughed, not bothering to hide the emptiness that lay behind it. “I didn’t only become a detective for the attention, you know.”

Akira stared at Goro, his expression blank. Goro stared back.

“You know what, why don’t you handle the garlic?” he said, switching places with the other boy. “I’ll beat the eggs. Later, you can work on the ginger and wash the spinach.”

Goro nodded, an uncharacteristically goofy grin spreading across his face. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he thought he saw Akira’s eyes widen.

“You look stupid when you smile like that.”

Goro glared at the other boy. “And I thought we’d made peace.”

“No, it’s a good thing. It’s cute.” Akira ruffled Goro’s hair. “It makes you seem more down to earth. Relatable, even. And less like a smartass boy detective who doesn’t know how to say anything without offending other people.”

“Oh, shut up, Akira.”

“And here I was thinking that you wanted me to talk to you!”

  
  


~...~

  
  


It was just a few minutes after Goro had started chopping away at the garlic that Akira realised he had a real problem on his hands.

Goro was chopping the garlic, certainly, but he was taking far too long. The garlic had already been diced into incredibly small specks, but Goro was still cutting and cutting, making the garlic smaller and smaller. At this rate, all they were going to end up with would be handfuls of garlic dust.

“Goro, you can start on the ginger now.”

“Thank you,” he said with a smile. “I see.”

Akira turned back to the eggs he was beating. But as he continued working, he realised that there was a suspicious lack of chopping happening in the kitchen. 

Goro had his left hand on the knife and his right one on the ginger, but he wasn’t moving either. All he was doing was staring very intently at the ginger, as if it would cut itself.

“What are you doing, Goro?” Akira asked.

“Oh, sorry, kind of zoned out for a second.” Goro continued to stare at the ginger.

“Well, since your mind is back in the real world, aren’t you going to start on something?”

The two of them stood there in silence. Finally, Goro sighed. 

“Alright, I can’t cook, okay?”

“But Goro-kun, you have your food blog! Are you telling me that you’ve been a fake all this time?” Akira gasped dramatically. “And I thought you were a true connoisseur!” 

Goro laughed weakly. “Really, though, this is why I was a little uncertain about participating in this competition. I’ve never cooked in my life - what if I fail to meet up to my fans’ expectations?”

A part of Akira wanted to tell Goro that his fans would support him as long as he continued having such beautiful fawn hair and posted Instagram stories on a daily basis. Another part of Akira didn’t feel like reassuring Goro at all. He'd taken pity on Goro after he’d confided in him, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to punish Goro just a little bit for the remarks he made yesterday. Okay fine, he wanted to punish him a lot.

“So you want me to teach you to cook, right?”

“That’s the plan, yes,” Goro said.

“I’m not convinced,” Akira frowned. “Something about your manner makes me doubt your sincerity.”

“Come on,” Goro sighed. “Don’t toy with me.”

“I want you to say please.” Akira grinned. “It’s that simple.”

Goro laughed. “Of course I can say pl-”

The words died in his mouth.

“Well, taking into account our friendship, I think it is only right that you-”

“Come on, Goro, you can do better than this.”

“With regards to the task at hand, I beseech-”

“Still not good enough.”

Goro sighed once again, his hands on his head. “Akira, you’re going to be the death of me.”

“That’s the plan.”

“You’re so obnoxious.”

“Do you think this is how pleading is supposed to work? Because if so, you’re clearly not as charismatic as you think you are.”

Goro bit his lip. “Fine. If you teach me to cook, Akira, I will be… full of gratitude. Indebted to you, in a sense. Is that good enough?”

Akira shrugged. “Sure, we’ll make it work.”

Goro tried to switch positions with Akira, but the other boy stretched an arm forward, pinning him in place against the counter. 

“W-what are you doing?” 

“Trying to teach you to cook, of course.” Akira rolled his eyes. “Do you really think I’ll try to seduce you while you’re holding a cleaver?”

Goro shrugged. “I mean, it’s not as if you’re known for your incredible decision-making skills. You _are_ working at a club at the age of 17.”

Akira pouted. “Excuse me? Working at Crossroads was a _great_ decision. Lala-chan is a delight!”

As Goro turned back to face the chopping board, Akira put his hands over Goro’s, with his head resting on Goro’s shoulder. Goro tried to ignore the warmth of Akira’s body as it pressed against his own, the feel of Akira’s breath tickling his ear.

Some people flirted for fun, but the game Akira was playing had gone way too far.

“So, you hold the knife like this,” Akira adjusted Goro’s fingers. His touch was surprisingly gentle, his voice soothing. “And you use your other hand like this.”

As he held Goro’s hands with his own, he started showing Goro how to cut the ginger, carving a thin slice off the main stem. 

“Now, you try,” Akira said, letting go of Goro’s hands and wrapping his arms around the other boy’s waist.

Goro breathed in sharply. Akira’s tinkling laugh echoed in his ear.

“Really, Goro-kun? Are you imagining me as one of your fangirls, dying to get a taste of your food?”

“No, I was just remembering something I heard some of the older detectives talking about. Apparently, kitchen sex is quite the unforgettable experience.”

“Are you suggesting something, Goro? I wouldn’t try it if I were you. I work at a bar, I know how to protect myself.”

Goro grinned. “Well, I’m glad you know how to use protection.”

“Eww, what kind of PDA cringe is this?”

Goro dropped the cleaver. The two boys whirled around, only to find that Futaba and Naoto had made their way over to the boys’ dorm.

Naoto shook their head. “Really, senpai? The kitchen is a communal area. What if someone that wasn’t us had passed by?”

“Well, I thought we would deal with it when we came to it,” Akira sighed.

“Oh god, how could I forget?” Goro gasped. “If word got out, my reputation…”

“I mean, I don’t think they would mind. Naoto here’s clearly not cis, but all the girls online love them.” Futaba said. “Maybe all your fans are fujoshis. Who knows?”

“I’m Futaba, by the way,” she added, stretching one hand forward. “Nice to finally meet you, Detective Prince II. Though I’ve heard that sequels are usually worse than the originals.”

Goro shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, Futaba. You’re Boss’ daughter, aren’t you? I’m surprised that you’re old enough to attend Shugami Academy.”

“Oh, I’m just smart, I guess, so I got to skip a few grades, But back to the topic at hand.” Futaba pointed an accusing finger in Goro’s face. “I can’t believe you guys were feeling each other up in the dorm kitchen!”

Goro crossed his arms. “We were not feeling each other-”

“To think the two of you were even discussing kitchen sex!” Naoto exclaimed. “For shame, the two of you, for shame. Maybe, instead of thinking about using protection, you could have first considered how both of you could protect yourselves from public scrutiny!”

“We were not going to have kitchen sex!” Goro exclaimed.

“What?” Akira’s jaw dropped.

“What?” A boy that Goro recognised as Kanji Tatsumi poked his head out from his dorm room. “Senpai, were you guys going to…”

Naoto eyed Kanji with their best death glare. Slowly, Kanji returned to his room, closing the door with a resounding click.

“I can’t believe you were playing with my feelings, Goro-kun!” Akira swooned melodramatically, practically forcing his way into Goro’s arms. “You promised that you would take my pure, virginal virginity and then live with me in a castle forever and ever and-”

“Stop it!” Goro pushed Akira away, not knowing if the warmth on his face was due to his own embarrassment or rage. “We weren’t going to have sex and we aren’t romantically involved. Akira just likes flirting with me sometimes to provoke me, and I flirt back to provoke him.”

Naoto raised an eyebrow. “Could you repeat that?”

“Akira, I didn’t know you were into this kind of kinky stuff!” Futaba exclaimed. “Wait til I tell Sojiro about this. And your exhibitionism too.”

“Essentially, Naoto,” Akira said, with one hand placed patronisingly on the top of Goro’s head. “I’m flirting with this stupid boy so he will fall in love with me, and when he finally confesses to me, I’ll reject him and break his heart. But because he’s so stupid, he thinks he can make me fall for him by flirting with me. It’s sort of a game of cat and mouse.”

 _It’s mostly a way for me to flirt endlessly with Goro Akechi without any consequences._ Akira thought to himself.

“It’s like a game of no homo except both of them want to seduce the other person into actually becoming gay,” Futaba tried.

“But… senpai’s gay,” Naoto frowned.

“Which senpai?”

“Both? Akira works at the gay bar, and Goro visited him yesterday…” Naoto bit their lip. “Are you sure the two of you aren’t simply flirting with one another?”

“So, what’s it like meeting the in-laws, huh?” Akira grinned at Goro.

The brunette groaned. “Terrible. I’m getting a divorce.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I love writing lines by random audience/crowd characters.
> 
> This Akeshu scene is honestly one of my faves and I just find it so fun, especially with Naoto there. Idk about my characterisation, but right here right now? They're one of my fave characters in this little fic.
> 
> Whatever whatever, ty for reading and especially for sticking around. Big thanks, big love, big gay. See you soon!


	6. In Which A Lot of Scary Shit Happens

Sweat dripped down Goro’s palms. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be doing _this_. Whenever Goro was nervous, his hands turned cold and clammy. 

So it was a good thing he was wearing gloves.

 _“If there’s one thing Goro Akechi is, it’s a fake bitch,”_ Goro imagined Akira’s voice in his head and felt the push he needed to mold his mouth into a smile. 

“Dojima-san? Can I ask you a few questions?”

By then, the other students were all filing out of the class. Dojima always ended his classes three to five minutes late, so everyone was eager to get out as soon as possible. And today was no exception. All Goro had to do now was to stall Dojima for a few minutes.

“I was wondering…” Goro went off on a tangent about some of the most complex nuances of The Constitution of Japan, making sure to appear both polite and eager. Dojima nodded to himself, but it was clear that he was getting lost in the massive tsunami of words Goro was hurling at him.

“So, how can we make sure that such cases don’t happen in the future?”

Dojima paused. “Well.”

Then his face froze.

“E-excuse me, I’ll be right back.” Dojima dashed out of the classroom. The drugs Shido had provided were working perfectly. For the first time in his life, Goro was thankful that students and teachers had different toilets.

Well, it was time to get to work.

Goro slotted a thumb drive into Dojima’s laptop. A loading screen appeared on the laptop as the thumb drive downloaded every bit of information, every bit of evidence that remained on Dojima’s computer. Most of them were probably guarded by passwords of some sort, but Shido had the hackers to deal with it. All Goro had to do was to make sure the files were delivered safely.

* * *

_LOADING… 85%_

* * *

It was then that he heard footsteps approaching the classroom. Goro looked at Dojima’s laptop. 

* * *

_LOADING… 98%_

* * *

Goro wasn’t going to give up now.

The steps were right outside the classroom. Goro braced himself.

The door opened.

* * *

_LOADING… 100%_

* * *

Goro removed the thumb drive, blocking his movements with the other half of his body.

“What are you doing?” Makoto asked, her face stern, as usual.

“I’m waiting for Dojima-san. I was asking him a question, but he rushed off somewhere all of a sudden. So I’m waiting for him here.”

Makoto raised an eyebrow. “Really? Then, why were you hunched over his computer?”

Goro scratched his head, trying his best to look embarrassed. “Oh, you know, the mental shutdown cases are so relevant to our society today, so a part of me wanted to see if Dojima-san had anything about it on his table. I know it isn’t right, but a part of me was definitely curious, you know?”

“But I also heard the sound of…” Goro felt Makoto’s eyes flash to his gloves, but he’d already dropped the thumb drive in the collar of his shirt. “Never mind. I must be mistaken.”

Makoto moved to pick up the brown thermos that sat beside her seat. Inside, Goro heaved a sigh of relief.

“Good luck, by the way.”

Goro’s heart stopped. “For what?”

“For the cross-dressing competition?” Makoto looked bemused. “I’ll be rooting for your roommate and his partner, though. Hasn’t Yosuke told you yet?”

What?

Wait, what the _fuck?_

“Oh, of course, that.” Goro tried to hide the murderous glint in his eye. “Thanks for the encouragement, Makoto. I’ll be sure to give it my all.”

  
  


~...~

  
  


“As all of you must know by now, the culture festival is in just four days,” Makoto said. “We must all work together to make sure that this year’s festival is a success, and by all of us, I mean _all_ of us.”

She glared at a sleeping Yosuke, who somehow jolted awake immediately, mumbling something about nightmares and creepy brunettes with spiked gauntlets.

“As I was saying, all of us have to work together to ensure that this festival goes without a hitch,” she said. “Therefore, I’m going to entrust each of you with a list of booths to review. However, we’ll have to go in groups to ensure that there are no failures of judgement on our part, which could result in quite a few complaints.”

“Yu, want to go together?” Yosuke asked. Ann, Haru and Ryuji did an “awww” expression that Yu promptly ignored.

“I’ve already assigned everyone groups, so there’s no need to discuss it among yourselves,” Makoto handed them all sheets of paper with the names of various booths. “Haru and I are going together, of course. Our next group is Ryuji, Ann and Yusuke, and our final group is Yosuke and Yu.”

Ryuji frowned. “Why can’t we choose our own groups?”

“You’re with Ann. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Do you have a problem with me?” Yusuke’s hand was raised to his chest in outrage.

“T-that’s not it! And why are the booths the three of us have been assigned to so weird? I mean, the taxidermy demonstration booth? Really?”

“Eurgh,” Ann said.

Yusuke beamed. “What a magnificent idea!”

“The weird _is_ Yusuke’s speciality,” Yu said.

“Come to think of it, our booths are weird too,” Yosuke said. “Why don’t we have any food booths or cafes?”

“Because Haru’s our food expert,” Makoto said smoothly, resting a hand on Haru’s shoulder.

“Bullshit!” Ryuji exclaimed, hurling the sheet of paper on the ground. “You just want to go on an extended cafe date with Haru!”

“And I’m giving you an extended date as well,” Makoto said. 

Ann gasped. “Makoto, you savage bitch.”

Ryuji started scratching his head, staring intently at his sneakers. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then don’t say anything,” Haru said. “Before I revoke your tea privileges.”

Ann flashed a thumbs up at Makoto. Yu mirrored her actions. Makoto and Haru did two thumbs-ups back.

“Yu, can you wake me up when all this is over?” Yosuke was still half-asleep as he clung to Yu’s arm for dear life. Yu felt his heart melt in his chest.

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll fill you in on our way there.”

  
  


~...~

  
  


There was no other way to say it - the theatre club had covered the school’s drama studio with trash bags.

“Why did you guys cover the room with trash bags?” Yosuke had made a gagging motion when he saw the room’s decor, ever the tactful diplomat.

“It’s not just a room covered with trash bags,” a girl who’d introduced herself as Yumi replied with a frown. “It’s a luxurious viewing room modelled after a set from one of Steven Spielberg’s most classic movies - The Thirteenth Eye.”

“And the viewing room in the movie is covered with trash bags?”

Yumi bit her lip. “Well… no.”

“Then?”

“Isn’t the student council supposed to encourage students?”

Yu quickly covered Yosuke’s mouth with one hand, trying not to think about the softness of his lips. 

“So, I understand that the drama club intends to do a sort of psychic booth this year?

“Yes,” Yumi nodded. “We have everything that a patron could ask for. Tarot readings, birth chart readings, numerology, palmistry… everything.”

“Well, let’s proceed with the demonstration, then.”

“Thank you,” Yumi smiled. “At least _you_ know how to do your job. I swear, the calibre of student council members decreases year after year.”

Yosuke was about to spit out a retort, but the words died in his mouth. He knew that he was less mature than Yu, it was plain for everyone to see. Then why did it hurt so much? Somehow, he’d expected Yu to speak up for him. But Yu had simply continued nodding, engrossed in the task at hand. _Something,_ Yosuke reminded himself, _that I should have done in the first place._

Yumi led the two of them to a small corner that they’d sectioned off from the rest of the room with partitions made of more trash bags. A lone table stood, covered with various trinkets, crystal balls, and decks of cards. Yumi sat on one side, while Yu and Yosuke sat on the other. As the two of them watched, she put on a cheap witch’s hat with sparkly stars on them

“Don’t judge me!” Yumi blurted out before either of them could say a word. “We’re going to do skeleton makeup on the day itself, okay? It’s just that the other club members weren’t ready today.”

“I wasn’t judging!” Yosuke said. “I thought it was… interesting, that’s all.”

“That’s judging!”

“And judging is what we came here to do,” Yu sighed. “Yumi, you do know that the student council is meant to critique final products, right? If you don’t give us the best version of your booth, you might have to change it completely.”

“I… well…” Yumi’s face went pale. “Alright, I’ll give you the best reading I have, okay? I’m definitely going to change your mind.”

Yumi picked up one of the tarot decks, fanning the cards out in a perfect circle. “I’ll do a Celtic Cross Reading. Come on, Yosuke, pick ten cards first.”

“This is bullshit,” Yosuke grumbled, but there was a certain curiosity in his gaze. Cautiously, he reached across the table and removed ten cards. Yumi arranged the first two in a cross, before surrounding them with a diamond, with a card at each corner. Then, she used the remaining four cards to form a straight line beside the other cards.

The first card showed a little girl in a red headscarf setting up vases of flowers, handing the final vase to another girl with blonde hair. The mood of the card was bright and festive.

“Well, isn’t this perfect?” Yumi said. “Your present is represented by the six of cups in the upright, which symbolises joy, home, and most importantly, innocence. What I’m getting is that organising the festival with the other members of the student council has been an extremely enjoyable experience for you. It’s as if you don’t have a worry in the world.”

Yosuke shrugged. “I guess.” He pointed at the shorter girl. “Hey, Yu, maybe that’s you!”

“So you want to give me flowers?” Yu said with a smile. Yosuke responded by jabbing him in the ribs.

“No, I think it’s the opposite, actually,” Yumi said. “I’m not sure if it makes a difference, but the blonde girl is definitely you, Yosuke.”

She flipped the second card open. A smiling angel stood above a man and a woman, both of them completely naked. The card itself was upside-down.

“The immediate challenge you’re facing is represented by The Lovers in the reverse. Either you have a crush on someone, or someone has a crush on you.”

Yosuke grinned so hard that he failed to notice the look on Yu’s face.

“Yu, did you hear that? I might finally get a girlfriend this year!”  
Yumi shook her head. “It’s not a good crush. The Lovers in the reverse means that the crush is unlikely to be reciprocated. It’s likely to cause great discord and disharmony.”

Yu’s face went green, but Yosuke was still smiling. “I don’t have a crush on anyone though, so it must mean that someone else likes me. How can that be a bad thing?”

Yumi shrugged. “We’ll see.”

The third card was a floating hand in the sky, carrying a single pentagram.

“The ace of pentacles represents what led you into this situation. It represents new, wonderful beginnings - probably coming to this school, in your case.”

Yosuke nodded impatiently, gesturing for Yumi to get a move on.

“You’re really invested in this, aren’t you?” Yu tried his best to flash a weak smile. Thankfully, Yosuke didn’t look at him. His eyes were shining as he stared at the cards.

“I mean, it’s probably bullshit, but if there’s even a chance that someone has a crush on me, I’ll take it!”

The fourth card, however, showed a man with three swords pierced into his chest. The man in question was blonde. Just like the girl on the first card.

The one that had represented Yosuke.

“The three of swords represents your immediate future,” Yumi said softly. “Heartbreak. Possibly betrayal.”

The room was eerily silent.

“Are you sure you don’t have a crush, Yosuke?” Yumi asked. “Or could there be someone whose confession you’d see as an act of betrayal?”

Yu found that his hands were shaking slightly. He shoved them into his pockets.

“T-that’s ridiculous,” Yosuke said, but his spirits had dampened. “Continue, Yumi.”

She flipped the fifth card open. “The Emperor, your aspirational card, represents stability and authority, someone you can depend on. What I’m sensing is that the person who has some kind of romantic entanglement with you is someone you rely and depend on. What you want the most is to return to that past you had together.”

Yu couldn’t help but notice that the Emperor was wearing red, much like the other child on the very first card Yosuke had chosen. The one Yumi had implied represented him. 

“Your sixth card, Judgement in the reverse, deals with the subconscious. You’re probably experiencing self-hatred while viewing the situation in a delusional light. Either you _do_ have a crush on this other person, or you blame yourself for their crush, if that makes sense. Yosuke, do you think that there’s any feelings you’ve ever-”

“Nope!” Yosuke said, leaping from his seat. His voice was still as bright as ever, but there was an edge to it that wasn’t there before, and that made all the difference. He’d forced an embarrassed grin on his face, as clearly forced as Goro’s fake smile was charming. “This was a great demonstration, Yumi, and I definitely got sucked into the atmosphere at first. Although it didn’t apply to me exactly, if you keep your comments vaguer and nicer, I’m sure everyone would buy it. Come on, Yu, shall we go?”

“Wait!” Yumi said. “I understand I’ve touched on a raw nerve, but can I at least open the next card for you?”

Yosuke stood perfectly still. He stared at Yu, but Yu only stared back, his feet planted firmly on the floor.

“Yu?”

“Hear her out,” Yu said. “Partner.”

“Okay,” he whispered.

Yumi flipped over the seventh card, revealing the Empress in reverse.

“This card represents repressed femininity, but more than that, it means that you’re probably neglecting your more emotional side while secretly bombarding yourself with self-loathing. What you need to do, Yosuke, is to love yourself and embrace every part of yourself, even those that you don’t necessarily like. Will you remember to do that?”

Yosuke bit his lip, exhaling with a sigh. 

“Okay.”

After thanking Yumi for her time, Yu followed behind him. It was possible that Yosuke would forget the reading in a day or so, but it was permanently seared in Yu’s mind. All he could do was hope that it wouldn’t turn out to be true.

  
  


~...~

  
  


“You don’t have to accompany me, you know,” Akira said.

Earlier that day, the two of them had, once again, cooked dinner. It tasted better than it had on his first attempt, so Goro was rather proud of himself. However, this pride he felt seemed different from the other forms of pride he’d experienced. It was more hesitant, but because of that, it seemed more personal. Vulnerable, even. Goro let the foreign emotion swell, testing the depths of his heart.

The depths were shallow, he could tell. But his heart was growing. 

Gross.

Now, Akira was leaving for work. He was hell-bent on Goro staying away from him, which Goro knew because Akira had told him so thousands of times while opening the door.

“You don’t have to accompany me, you know,” Akira said once again.

“Mmmhmm.”

“No, seriously, you don’t have to accompany me.”

Goro nodded. “I know.”

“No, really,” Akira sighed. “Goro, I promise it’s not because I’m embarrassed by the love we have together. I swear to god.”

“I’m embarrassed for you,” Goro sipped on his latte that Akira had so graciously prepared.

“Goro,” Akira whined. Then he ran back towards Goro, ducking down and wrapping his arms around his leg.

Goro spilled his coffee. “What the _fuck,_ Akira?”

“Come on, aren’t you interested in seeing what my working environment’s like?”

“I’ve seen it. And no, I’m not interested in seeing any more.”

“Come on, Goro. There’re strippers! I could pay a random hunk to give you a lapdance! Wouldn’t you like that?”

Goro grinned. “I have the most gorgeous hunk holding on to me right now.”

Akira was unfazed. “Lame. Step on me, daddy.”

“No.”

“Really, though,” Akira sighed, pressing his face against Goro’s shins. “What would your fans say if they knew their Goro-kun was such a dick? Horrible things, I’m sure.”

“Well, maybe I wouldn’t have anyone begging for me to step on them.”

“Touche.” Akira leapt to his feet. “Fine! I’ll leave without you. I’ve brewed you a cup of coffee, cooked you your dinner-”

“I helped you with the-”

“No, I cooked our dinner completely by myself without anyone’s help. I also helped wash most of the dishes!”

“They are literally on the table right now.”

“That’s besides the point. I helped!” Akira sniffed. “Anyway, I’ve done so much for you, and this is how you repay me? I can’t believe it. Goodbye, then! Adieu! Sit in here with your stupid coffee while I slave away in a disreputable establishment!”

Akira stormed out the door...

...and came to a stop half a metre away from the gate.

Goro stifled a laugh. “Alright, alright. But we have to wash the dishes first, okay? I can’t do everything by myself.”

“Well, you refused to step on me earlier, so…”

“Shut up, Akira.”

  
  


~...~

  
  


The haunted house that the book club had erected in the middle of the baseball court was surprisingly impressive.

“This is actually kind of impressive,” Yosuke noted.

“You’re…” Yu tested the waters. 

“Yeah, partner?”

Yu tried his best to ignore the heat creeping up his neck. “You’re… you’re also kind of…”

There was a noticeable pause as Yosuke waited for Yu to speak up and Yu waited for a sudden jolt of confidence to come.

It never did.

“Let’s go in!” he said, quickly walking into the house, his manner expressing the most emotion Yosuke had ever observed in him. Shrugging, Yosuke followed.

The haunted house was dimly illuminated in a sickly green. There were many cabinets and desks, all of them adorned with demonic figurines, skulls, and trails of ash. Multiple pentagrams had been drawn on the floor again and again with a copper-red substance, overlapping and intersecting together in a dense patchwork. 

“I… how did you guys afford this?” Yosuke asked.

“Ai. She has money,” the receptionist said absentmindedly, as if his face wasn’t missing and he wasn’t holding a skull in his hand. “I never thought she’d be into this stuff, but she’s apparently been on a horror movie binge recently.”

“And why the fuck are you holding your own skull in your hand?”

“It was Ai’s idea, and her Dad had the technology for it.”

“Is the basketball team fine with the location of your haunted house?” Yu asked.

“Their captain is dating Ai, so it’s not like they have any choice.”

Yu got the distinct feeling that Ai could pretty much do everything she wanted.

“Is she pretty?” Yosuke asked.

“Yeah, with the brains to match. The top of her class.”

“Figures.”

“How scary is it?” Yu asked.

“Ai got professionals from haunted houses around the world to design this house and tutor all of us.” The headless student said. “It’s honestly changed my life forever.”

He retrieved a piece of tissue from his pocket and held it towards his face. Yu watched as the tissue slowly turned wet, and decided it was very, very creepy.

“Do you think that’s his tears or his snot?” Yosuke whispered.

“It’s both,” The headless student said.

“Great,” Yu said. “Where’s the entrance?”

“Just wait a second,” the student said. Then he pushed a button from behind the desk,

Slowly, a closet door creaked open, revealing a host of cobwebs. The headless student held up his skull. 

“After you,” it said.

Yu and Yosuke shuffled into the haunted house, no longer so sure if this was a good decision after all.

  
  


~...~

  
  


As the door closed behind them, the room was instantly plunged into darkness. Yu groped around blindly, trying to get his hands on something he could use to guide himself around the room.

Eventually, he found himself gripping something hard.

"Hey, partner, is that you?” Yosuke said. “You’re holding my…”

Yosuke trailed off. Yu felt a sudden fear spurt out from within him.

“...wrist,” Yosuke said as he grasped Yu’s hand in his own. “There. Isn’t this better?”

As the first of Yu’s fears were allayed, another one came to the forefront, and Yu found that he wasn’t sure how to handle the fact that he was currently holding Yosuke Hanamura’s hand. All he could do was thank God for this opportunity. And Ai Ebihara, he supposed, though they were practically the same thing for the book club.

“Let’s move forward together, then, huh?” Yosuke said, rambling more than usual. “This haunted house looked really big from the outside, so we’ll need to be fast if we want to exit in time to catch the special at Aiya, but at the same time, I don’t really know what to expect from this place, since it was built by professionals, and-”

Yu felt a rush of air blowing at his ankles. Immediately, Yosuke shrieked, clinging onto Yu in terror.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my-” Yosuke buried his face in Yu’s shoulder, his voice coming out in a high pitched scream. Inside, Yu was screaming too, albeit for very different reasons.

“It’s fine, Yosuke,” Yu finally said, placing one arm around Yosuke’s shoulder. “We’ll get through this together, alright?”

Yosuke was still sniffling, but he loosened his grip on Yu, a change Yu couldn’t decide if he liked or not. “Alright.”

The two of them moved together as one, with Yu in front and Yosuke behind him, still holding each others’ hands. There were a few more scares with various alarming sounds, doors opening and closing, and one particularly tense moment when Yosuke had told Yu to stop touching his neck when Yu had been doing nothing of the sort. Eventually, Yu realised that there was only one exit, in the form of a small opening at the base of one of the walls, just big enough for a single person to crawl through. 

“You mean… I’ll have to remain in this room all by myself?” Yosuke said.

“It’ll only be for a few seconds, then you can come through behind me,” Yu said. “Unless you want to go first?”

“No, there’s probably a corpse or something like that waiting for us,” Yosuke said. Then he sighed. “Damn it! I sound like a kid. Let’s get this over with - I don’t want to keep behaving like this.”

Yu nodded, before realising that Yosuke had no way of seeing his head in the darkness, a fact that made him feel rather stupid. So he gave Yosuke’s hand a gentle squeeze, promising that he’d be quick, before plunging into the tunnel.

The insides were dark, but Yu moved through the tunnel quickly. A touch on the ankle assured him that Yosuke was moving behind him… at least, he hoped it was Yosuke. It was only half a minute into his journey that he realised that he was crossing what felt like a rope bridge without railings. He felt it sag beneath him, but the ceiling above him was just as low, cramping him between the two. It was suffocating, but the emptiness Yu could feel below him was even more frightening. Slowly, he inched his way across the bridge, painfully aware that every step he took could send him careening off the edge.

“Yosuke, there’s a rope bridge coming up, but it has no rails. Be careful, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks partner,” Yosuke answered. Yu could sense the fear creeping into his voice. The two of them crept across the bridge, slowly but surely. Even Yu could feel his heart leaping out of his chest.

Suddenly, Yosuke let out a chilling shriek. “Someone’s touching my foot! Yu, Yu, help me! Yu, please!”

As Yu tried turning around to help, Yosuke surged forwards, eventually finding his way on top of Yu. 

“Yosuke,” Yu gasped as he felt the other boy’s hands move from his thighs to his abs. 

“Sorry, Yu, I’m just freaking out,” Yosuke said, his voice panicked. “I’ll be quick, then you can follow behind me, and we can-”

At that moment, the bridge snapped, Both of them screamed as the rope bridge fell and fell for the incredible length of 15 centimetres, onto the bouncy surface of an inflatable mattress. 

The lights were turned on. Yu heard a small rustle, and then the ceiling above them was removed, exposing the missing face of the receptionist. It was only now that Yu realised the ceiling had been a length of cardboard this entire time.

“Seriously, guys, you were supposed to check if our haunted house was satisfactory, not destroy one entire part of it. Do you know how much time it took to erect this bridge?”

Yu tried not to think about what else might be erect, but it was hard to avoid thinking about it when Yosuke was straddling him from above.

“Well, we now know that your bridge isn’t sturdy enough. You might have gotten quite a few complaints if we hadn’t stopped by.”

The receptionist did what Yu presumed was an eye roll, then walked away, mumbling something about a stupid student council. Then, he turned to Yosuke, who was now moving away from him with a faint blush on his cheeks.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s a normal physiological response.”

 _Oh._ Yu closed his legs as he tried to hide what was between them from view. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You seemed quite freaked out, after all.”

“I wasn’t freaked out,” Yosuke averted his eyes. “I was just, you know, a little panicked.”

“I suppose you had another reason for climbing on top of me?”

“I… I don’t…” Yosuke scowled at him. “Fine, I was really scared. Happy now?”

Yu couldn’t stop himself from laughing, both at the absurdity of the situation and how silly Yosuke could be sometimes. The bashful look on his face only made Yu laugh harder, til he almost couldn’t breathe.

“Stop laughing,” Yosuke grumbled. “It’s not funny.”

“It’s alright, Yosuke,” Yu said with a smile. “It’s actually a little cute.”

“Huh?” Yosuke said, and the startled look on his face made Yu lose his nerve in an instant.

“Are you coming out or not?” The headless student called from above, saving Yu from further explanation.

With that, Yu hoisted himself out of the tunnel. Yosuke followed after him, but for some reason, the pink in his cheeks simply wouldn’t leave.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Goro didn’t like Lala-chan very much.

It wasn’t that her face was caked in makeup, that Akira had quickly made a beeline for her, leaving Goro in the lurch, or even that she hadn’t smiled at him once throughout their entire meeting, a feat that Goro hadn’t thought was possible before he’d met Yu.

No, the problem he had with Lala-chan was that her hair was better than his. He knew that hers’ was fake, of course - she was a drag queen, after all. But her makeup was immaculate, and her wig line was positively unclockable. Goro couldn’t help but feel an odd yet strong tinge of jealousy.

“Lala-chan, Goro-kun’s envious of your hair!” Akira said in a sing-song voice. 

“As he should. I’ve been doing this for twenty years,” Lala-chan laughed.

“Don’t give yourself too much credit, Lala-chan,” Akira added. “Goro-kun’s jealous of anything with a heartbeat - and many things that don’t have heartbeats, too.”

Goro glared at Akira, unable to kick him from beneath the bar, but Akira seemed insistent on pretending not to notice.

“If it means anything, Lala-chan,” Naoto said. “I think you always look beautiful.”

“Thank you, Naoto,” Lala-chan smiled, her vermillion lips all the more enticing. “But I’m afraid I can’t return your feelings. A certain someone I know has his eye on you.”

 _Who?_ Goro scanned the expressions of everyone else at the bar in shock. Lala-chan’s expression was coquettish, as usual, and Akira looked equally amused. Naoto’s face, on the other hand, was completely frozen. Then they shook their head. “I don’t know what you mean, Lala-chan.”

The tremble in their voice sealed their fate. So there _was_ someone Naoto was interested in, a boy that Akira and Lala-chan both knew. Out of the corner of his eye, Goro tried to scan the bar for men who might be looking this way.

“Of course you don’t, Naoto. Lala-chan, your daughter’s performing today, remember? The correct pronoun is her.”

Daughter? Goro’s ears perked up. 

“Curious, Goro?” Akira smirked.

_Shit._

“Naoto, based on what I’ve heard at the bar so far, are you dating a drag queen?” Goro asked politely. Naoto shook their head vehemently.

“Don’t be so impatient, Goro-kun,” Lala-chan clapped Naoto on the back. “Their relationship hasn’t advanced quite so far yet.”

Akira grinned. “Lala-chan, Goro-kun’s impatient in other ways too.”

Goro sputtered in the face of such slander. It was his first time meeting Lala-chan, and already, Akira had made a countless amount of character assassinations. “That’s not true!”

“I agree,” Naoto said, crossing their arms. “I have no such romantic involvement with anyone at all.”

Akira snorted. “That wasn’t what Goro was talking about, Naoto.”

“On the contrary, that was exactly what I was thinking,” Goro said, putting one hand on Naoto’s shoulder. “I believe that Naoto should be entitled to their privacy, whether they are in a relationship or not. The way all of you are harassing them like this is simply inappropriate!”

Naoto looked at Goro with genuine gratitude in their eyes. Goro looked back with the same smile he’d practised for so many years.

“In that case, Goro, you admit that you’re impatient?” Akira grinned.

“Of course. I’m tired of waiting for you to finally penetrate me!” Goro exclaimed. “Damn it, Akira, it’s been an entire year!”

“What?” Naoto reared back in shock.

“What?” Lala-chan gasped, but her eyes were smiling.

“What?” Akira asked, his jaw slack. Goro easily suppressed his delight, maintaining the cross expression on his face. He _was_ a fake bitch, after all. Acting was his bread and butter.

“Akira, you promised me a year ago in Leblanc that you’d penetrate me once we started attending Shugami. But it’s been so long, and you keep putting it off again and again!” Goro whimpered, tears flowing down his cheeks. 

“Goro!” Naoto exclaimed with astonishment. 

“Am I not muscular enough? Is my dick too small for you? Can’t you at least tell me why instead of stringing me along like this?”

“Akira!” Naoto exclaimed again, their voice accusatory. 

“You poor boy,” Lala-chan sighed, rubbing Goro’s back from behind. Goro allowed himself to lean against the drag queen as he sniffled into his handkerchief. “Akira, you need to learn to have better communication. If you’re not ready to have sex, say it! Don’t keep him up late at night with his mind on something other than your dick.”

“You can’t seriously be believing this, Lala-chan,” Akira said.

“Oh, I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Naoto said suddenly. “Akira… is there someone else?”

Akira gave them a wry smile, but Naoto took it the wrong way. “I’m correct? My god, how dare you, Akira Kurusu!”

Goro fell to the floor melodramatically, as quickly as he could without damaging his fake designer clothing. “Lala-chan, it was you, wasn’t it? Answer me, you fabulous drag queen!”

“Stop this, you’re confusing Naoto,” A distinctly familiar voice said as they lifted Goro up by the scruff of his neck. It made Goro feel a little pathetic, like a naughty puppy punished by his master. Akira whipped out his phone, gleefully taking a picture of Goro, much to the latter’s chagrin.

“Welcome back, Makoto,” Lala-chan said. “Please, have a seat.”

  
  


~...~

  
  


The bar was eerily silent. After the shameful events that had just transpired, everyone who had been sitting at the bar felt thoroughly humiliated, except for Lala-chan and Akira, who were still talking to Makoto animatedly. For the first time in his life, Goro wondered if he’d been a little too extra. Even people who weren’t involved in the conflict felt waves of second-hand embarrassment so strong that they ordered a few more shots.

“We should do that more,” Akira said. “It really helps our business, and I got a great picture out of it too.”

Goro scowled at him. “Shut up.”

“So, Goro, is Akira really refusing to penetrate you?” Naoto asked hesitantly.

Goro groaned. Naoto’s face fell.

“Don’t listen to him, Naoto,” Akira said with a grin. “I’d penetrate Goro as long as he’d have me. The problem is that Goro wants to penetrate me too, which makes things quite hard when we want to both do it at the same time.”

“Wait… I… what?” Naoto had their hands around themselves, clearly scandalised.

“Akira’s been trying to get me to agree for months, but I refuse to use an enema, and Akira doesn’t want my excrement on his genitalia, even if there’s a condom separating the two. Sometimes, he tries using one in the middle of sex, but that stains the bedsheets afterwards.”

Naoto downed their drink (ice water) at once. “What the fuck?”

“Language,” Akira chided.

“I’m not that young!”

“Which is why the two of you need to stop messing with them like this,” Makoto sighed. “Think about it, they need to learn about sex, especially with their soon-to-be boyfriend.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about!”

“Don’t you get tired of that, dear?” Lala-chan said, refilling the Ace Detective’s glass. “Oh, look, there he is!”

A host of drag performers had been performing for a few hours already, but Goro could tell that this one was different. A muscular blonde woman stepped onto the stage, an elegant rhinestoned gown clinging to her curves. Her lips were a seductive black, and her lidded eyes were effortlessly seductive. Something about her looked incredibly familiar. 

“Please welcome to the stage, Yoghurt Bent!”

Naoto’s face went rigid instantly.

“Poor kid,” Lala-chan mused. “They’re smitten.”

But the cogs in Goro’s brain were churning. Something about the name Yoghurt Bent reminded him of something, a phrase he’d heard on the hallways, perhaps, or maybe even in one of his classes, perhaps something he’d often heard said by someone he knew personally…

_Yoghurt Bent._

_Yo Ghurt Bent._

_Yo, get bent!_

“Kanji?” Goro reared back in shock. He hadn’t expected such a masculine person to be a drag performer, especially not one as sultry as this.

“Yes,” Akira smiled. “Does that surprise you?”

“Even if it does, he looks great,” Naoto said, all too quickly. Lala-chan suppressed a chuckle.

The music swelled as Kanji started to lip-sync to one of the most famous power ballads of the era - the Barney theme. Naoto hung on every word, as if the entire song was dedicated to them. And from the number of times Kanji had stared at Naoto, it could very well be. It was as if the two of them were in a world of their own, one androgynous detective and one muscular drag queen, a match made in heaven.

Eventually, as the music faded, everyone in the room began to clap, especially Naoto, who nearly fell off their chair with the force of their applause. As she blew a kiss to the rest of the room, Yoghurt strode backstage once again, her long hair hanging down in beautiful tresses. The moment she moved out of view, Naoto let out a soft sigh.

“They love Kanji so much,” Akira said as he turned to Goro. “If you loved me that much, I just might penetrate you. What do you say?”

“I already do,” Goro said, his face unchanging.

Akira pouted. “You’re too used to this, Goro. You’re getting too good. Next time we do this, I’ll have to try to kiss you.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Really?” Makoto sighed. “Couldn’t the two of you have waited for Naoto to leave first?”

“Hey, I’m not a child!”

  
  


~...~

  
  


Goro wasn’t sure if he was making the right decision. The operation itself had gone without a hitch. All the files on Dojima’s laptop were currently on his thumb drive, and it didn’t seem as if Goro had done anything to arouse suspicion in anyone. Sure, he’d nearly been caught by Makoto, but he’d played it off easily, and the other girl hadn’t seemed suspicious when the two of them had met at the bar that night. But something, something within Goro that he couldn’t quite place hesitated, and refused to budge. Something that kept thinking about _What Akira would think_ , or _How Makoto and Naoto would react,_ or _Let’s just admit that revenge alone isn’t going to satisfy your need for happiness and validation._

There was something very annoying about having a conscience, especially when that conscience was being more logical than the person it belonged to. Because Goro could never find it in his heart to blame himself, he decided to blame Akira for his conscience instead.

But even that was half-hearted. As much as Goro would love to deny it, Akira had grown on him, even if most of it was due to bribery in the form of excessive amounts of curry.

Goro sighed. He knew his friends would disapprove of his actions - it was obvious, really. But he hated Shido with every fibre of his being, and he wasn’t going to stop now. Besides, it wasn’t as if Akira and the rest needed to know. And that was enough for Goro.

As Goro emailed the files to Shido, he hoped that his father would be grateful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♪ what can I say except you're welcome ♪ and also Happy Valentines! RIP to you if yours is kind of fucked.
> 
> When I wrote this chapter, I remember finding all the tarot shit a bit of a chore to work out, but everything afterwards was great. Akira begging Goro? Very relevant to my interests. The Haunted House with the penis fakeout (that's what it was intended to be O_o) and the headless dude? Very fun to work with. Talking to Naoto about Enemas? Yeah... *wipes away a tear* that's the life.
> 
> Again, thanks to everyone for reading! I'd respond to your comments but I don't know what to say apart from "thanks" every single time... which is... a ://. Either way, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you guys soon!


	7. In Which The Culture Festival Finally Happens

“Hello, everyone, my name is Sadayo Kawakami.” From where Yu was sitting, his form teacher was the size of an ant. “Since Principal Kobayakawa, Vice-Principal Chouno and all the department heads are absent today, I’ve been entrusted with the task of giving everyone a warm carnival welcome.”

Yu could hear Kawakami’s sigh echoing through the hall.

“That’s a very warm welcome speech, alright,” Akira whispered. Goro snorted. 

“She’s trying her best,” Yu gave the two of them a silencing look. “We shouldn’t mock her when she’s clearly overworked.”

“We also shouldn’t be talking during her presentation,” Goro said. “You’re quite the hypocrite aren’t you, Yu?”

“Well, Akira started it.”

“Yes, but Akira isn’t the one who’s so insistent on giving Kawakami our utmost respect,” Goro grinned.

“Good one, Goro.” Akira and Goro shared a high five. Yu was beginning to think that mending their friendship had been a bad idea after all. “Also, speaking of respect, there’s Yosuke.”

Yu turned to see Yosuke barreling down the empty space between the classes, bending his head down, as if that would somehow make him less noticeable. He squeezed beside Yu, making the other boy gravely uncomfortable. “Why didn’t you guys wake me up? Geez, you can’t rely on other people nowadays.”

“I woke you up this morning,” Akira said.

“I woke you up at breakfast,” Goro said.

“I reminded you to set an alarm when you decided to go back to your room for some last-minute sleep,” Yu said.

“Well, I…” Yosuke trailed off. “Fine, I overslept and it’s all my fault. Are you guys happy now?”

“Come on, Kawakami,” King Moron said. “Get on with it!”

“Well… I…” Kawakami seemed at a loss for words. “Umm… have a great time today, everyone!”

Then, she fled off the stage.

Yosuke whistled. “I missed a lot of her speech, huh?”

“No, that was it,” Yu said. “It’s a little short, I know.”

“It’s fine,” Yosuke said. “That’s just how I like them.”

“Did you hear that, Yosuke’s partner?” Akira asked so softly that only Yu could hear.

Yu averted his eyes. The day had barely started, but Yu already knew it was bound for ruin.

  
  


~...~

  
  


The first event of the day was the cross-dressing competition. Immediately, a group of students from the theatre club dragged the contestants to the second-floor classroom, ignoring the protests of some of them, and the fake protests of others.

When Goro entered the room, he was happy to see that he was surrounded by people he knew. He was even happier to see the annoyed expression on Akira’s face as he watched the club member who’d let Goro into the room cling to his arm and the jealous expression on Yosuke’s face as he observed the same thing.

“Thank you for your assistance,” Goro said with a smile.

The girl gaped, starstruck. “G-goro-kun,” she finally said. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Be my guest.”

“Do you love me, Goro-kun?” Akira wailed, wrapping his arms around Goro. “Goro-kun, please, marry me, please!” 

The girl started, then she quickly scrambled away, trying to hide her face from view.

“Seriously, Akira?” Goro sighed. “Why did you have to ridicule that poor girl?”

“At least I saved her from getting rejected. Besides, you’re mine, Goro-kun!” Akira said with a wink. “And don’t you forget it.”

“Beat me in this competition first and we’ll see.”

Akira gasped. “Goro-kun, is that a promise? You wouldn’t be so daring if you knew about my secret weapon.”

Goro raised an eyebrow. “Secret weapon?”

“Just you wait and see,” Akira said. Goro tried to question him further, but all he did was retrieve a makeup kit from his bag. Determined not to fall behind, Goro did the same.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Meanwhile, Yosuke and Yu were both shocked to see the makeup cases that some of the other contestants had brought. 

“These guys are really serious about this, huh?” Yosuke said as he scanned the room.

“It’s certainly unexpected,” Yu replied.

“I know, right? I mean, what’s this competition good for? It’s definitely not going to charm any girls.”

“Oh my god, what do you think Goro-kun’s going to look like as a girl?” One of the drama club members squealed.

“He’s going to look so cute, like a little hello kitty doll!” Another girl sighed, her eyes glazed. Yosuke rolled his eyes. 

“I mean, it’s not going to charm any girls unless you’re Goro fucking Akechi.”

“I don’t know,” Yu said. “I think you’d look pretty cool as a girl.”

Yosuke raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Yu said averting his eyes. Yosuke took a while to ponder his statement.

“Well, it’s not like there’s anything we can do about it now, is there?” Yosuke said. “I guess we’ll just have to throw dresses on and call it quits.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that!” Ann, Haru and Makoto entered the room carrying all sorts of makeup products with them. There was an odd glint in Ann’s eye that made Yosuke nervous.

“W-what are you planning to do with that?” Yosuke said nervously.

“Why is everyone asking that?” Ann sighed. “Ryuji said that too when I went to help him and Yusuke.”

“Because the way you’re looking at us seems almost psychotic?”

Ann pouted. “I’m not psychotic.”

“Yosuke’s exaggerating, Ann,” Yu said. “You’re very excited, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Exactly! I’m excited, that’s all. Don’t be such a grump, Yosuke!”

“You’re really a ladies man aren’t you, partner?” Yosuke sighed.

Makoto snorted. “Oh yes, certainly.”

“Makoto!” Haru punched her girlfriend’s shoulder lightly. “Don’t be rude.”

“Anyway, the two of you are in safe hands,” Ann said. “I’ll have you know, I’ve watched hundreds of makeup tutorials!”

Even Yu groaned a little at that.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Goro looked beautiful.

Well, maybe not beautiful, but certainly passable. Goro had always had feminine features, and the makeup tips he’d heard at the TV station definitely helped him with his appearance. A bit of late-night practice with contouring and highlighting didn’t hurt either. It was easy enough to do so unnoticed since Yu and Yosuke were always at Aiya anyway.

Goro was a pretty boy, and he was determined to be a pretty girl too. The girlfriend that other people could only dream of. Every girl in Japan was already under his spell. It was high time he had the boys under his thumb too.

Akira, on the other hand, had only applied foundation on his face, and was now lying back in his seat as if waiting for something to happen.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Oh, you know.”

Goro sighed. “There’s no way you sneaked Lala-chan into Shugami.”.

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Akira said nonchalantly.

“She’s a drag queen. The parents would throw a fit.”

“Well, who would be able to stop her? Kawakami?”

Goro laughed. “I guess not. But King Moron’s there.”

It had been imperceptible at first, but by now, there was a considerable hum coming from outside the room. Slowly, the hum built to a cacophony of voices, all of them saying words that Goro couldn’t quite splice apart.

A drama club member entered the room. “Oh my god, you guys, Principal Kobayakawa came to school dressed as a woman!”

“He _what?”_ Goro exclaimed. He stared at Akira in disbelief, but Akira only grinned.

“Lala-chan has been acting like a woman for decades. After all that, impersonating Principal Kobayakawa’s a piece of cake.”

At that moment, Lala-chan walked in, an entourage of fans behind her, all of them snapping photos and giggling to one another.

“Tell me, Goro,” she said. “Is this what it feels like to be famous?”

  
  


~...~

  
  


“Welcome, everyone, to our annual cross-dressing competition!” Rise Kujikawa cheered.

The crowd cheered back, some of them even tossing roses onto the stage. It had taken far less effort than Makoto had expected to persuade Rise to host the day’s various events, and her decision had clearly been the correct one.

“There are seven lovely ladies competing today. If rumours are to be believed, all of them are incredibly gorgeous. Some might even be more gorgeous than me! Can you believe that?”

“Never, Rise!” The crowd answered in unison. 

“God, it’s like a cult out there,” Goro said backstage. “Famous people really can do anything, huh?”

Yosuke sighed. “Stop pretending as if you aren’t famous.”

“I’m famous?”

“Before we start, let’s introduce our guest judges. Firstly, we have Futaba Sakura, representing incels and weeaboos from all around the world! Futaba, how are you doing?”

Futaba shrugged. “Bruh moment.”

The audience gave her a huge round of applause.

“Our next guest judge is one of two members of detective royalty in our school - Naoto Shirogane! Naoto, you’re a detective that’s renowned around the country for your observation skills. Is there a particular part of these girls that you’ll be observing today?”

“No,” Naoto said. “But I _am_ looking for an “it” factor. A _je n'ais ce quoi,_ if you will.”

The audience clapped once more. “French!” one of the students said simply.

“They’re here for you, Kanji,” Akira said.

“Shut up, senpai. They’re just here to have fun, that’s all.”

“And finally, our most esteemed guest judge, Principal Kobayakawa himself, otherwise known as Lala-chan! Tell me, Lala-chan, what inspired your name?”

Lala-chan smiled. “Well, Rise, when I’m dressed more femininely, I’m known for making all the men sing.”

The audience erupted in laughter, none of them questioning the identity of their third judge. Even Kawakami only wondered why her boss hadn’t displayed this fun side of his before.

“Thank you all for coming. Before we start, I’d like to remind you all that although the judges are here to give their opinions, it is ultimately the audience’s pick that takes home the title of Miss Shugami 2019. Now, shall we get this party started?”

The hall burst into applause.

“And now, to the stage, our first contestant - Arya Forreal!”

Ryuji walked onstage with a ratty mane of a wig that was so unkempt, it looked as if it could have grown from his scalp. His face had been so loaded with highlighter, it blinded the audience with the way it reflected the light. His only saving grace was the female track uniform he was wearing. It was far too small and was already soaked in sweat, leaving very little to the imagination.

Futaba gasped. “Arya, you have officially become this fanfic’s fanservice character!”

“What the hell, dude?” Ryuji said. “You’re what, 14? That’s way too young to be so thirsty.”

“She’s quite spirited,” Naoto noted. “And her physique, though not exactly transformed, is certainly… impressive.”

Lala-chan nodded. “Truly Mentaiko realness, with a touch of Black Monkey-Pro.”

The crowd muttered knowingly, even the straight men who had no idea what she was talking about. 

“Next up, we have the divine Sayuri!” 

Yusuke walked onstage with only the slightest bit of makeup on. He was, however, wearing very revealing clothing, with a translucent silk robe, seashells to cover his nipples and genitals, and a huge lobster head that seemed to serve as a hat. Ryuji’s breath caught as he looked at Yusuke’s figure. As Yusuke looked back, his eyes widened in turn.

Both of them prayed that that thing between their legs wouldn’t show itself on stage.

“This look is very conceptual,” Naoto said. “Could you describe your thought process?”

“It was inspired by the giving waters of the earth,” Yusuke said. “And also, my beautiful mother.”

Lala-chan nodded. “I’m sure your mother would be very proud of the way you’re dressed today.”

The crowd roared with laughter. “Seriously, though,” one of the boys whispered. “I’d totally bang that.”

“I don’t know, I don’t like it,” Futaba said. “It reminds me of a genderless version of Prince Sidon, but less sexy.”

“Then again, that’s a very high bar to meet, Futaba,” Naoto said.

Futaba gasped. “Naoto, you play Zelda?”

The audience gasped as well. Within seconds, Naoto Shirogane was trending on Twitter.

“And now, it’s time for us to reveal the Princess of Junes! Come on out!”

The lights glinted in Yosuke’s eyes as he stepped onstage. He felt self-conscious in his frilly pink dress, his brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. He knew he didn’t look bad - Akira’s friend Lala-chan had made sure of that. But he was still scared of how the audience might react.

To his surprise, the audience erupted in cheers. A large number of people whistled at him, with some people even throwing roses at him.

“Damn, Princess of Junes,” Futaba’s eyes bulged like those of a lecher. “Honestly, you should start cross-dressing every day.”

The audience cheered once more, with some people picking up the roses that had fallen off the stage and throwing them back on. A particularly enthusiastic boy even threw his shirt onto the stage, much to Yosuke’s embarrassment.

Yu’s identity as a samurai girl, Yu NeverCallMe, wasn’t received as kindly, but he didn’t seem to mind, flashing Yosuke a warm smile nonetheless. 

“I told you you’d be pretty,” he mouthed.

“Our next contestant is a famous star that we’ve all come to know and love. Let’s welcome to the stage… Goro-chan!” 

The crowd went wild as Goro strutted onstage, wearing a pink and white version of Hatsune Miku’s signature schoolgirl uniform. His lips were a bubblegum pink, and his eyes were molten rubies. 

“Goro-kun looks good as both a guy and a girl! It’s not fair!” A girl wailed.

“I’ve never understood why the girls like him so much, but I have the weirdest boner right now,” A dudebro whispered to his friend.

“Naoto, as the other detective prince, I bet you and Goro are very close,” Rise said. “What do you think of his look tonight?”

Naoto gave him a thumbs up. Several girls with “Naoto x Goro” signs fainted, forming a small pile in the hall. The cleaners would sweep them out later.

“And now, put your hands together to welcome the impeccable Latte Skin!”

Akira came on stage in a police uniform, albeit one that exposed both of his butt cheeks. His long dark hair came down to his thighs, and his face was immaculately painted. Using a pair of handcuffs, he linked himself and Goro together, waving a whip threateningly in his direction.

Countless members of the audience, including judge Naoto Shirogane and esteemed teacher Sadayo Kawakami, felt blood trickle down their noses. In seconds, the entire hall was coated in red, and tissues were in short supply, creating quite the crisis.

“God, does this mean I’m not straight?” Ann said, tissue in hand.

Haru laughed, a tissue stuffed in her nose as well. “Why do you think you, Ryuji and Yusuke are such great friends?”

When most of the crisis had been taken care of, Rise continued, stowing her own pieces of tissue away. “Alright, it might seem as if the winner is clear, but not all our contestants have shown themselves. Last but not least, we have the incredible Yoghurt Bent!”

At that moment, fireworks surged from the stage. A gorgeous muscular woman wearing a v-neck dress walked onstage, her clothing glittering beautifully with rhinestones and jewels. As she came to the centre of the room, a hush descended upon the audience. It was as if a single spotlight was shining, and God herself had made an appearance.

“Jesus,” Rise whispered, the most unladylike Goro had ever seen her. “Jesus. Fucking. Christ.”

No more commentary was necessary. The votes were collected and tallied, and the winner of Miss Shugami 2019 was unequivocally Yoghurt Bent. Even after the announcement of the winner, most of the audience still gathered around Kanji in awe, too spellbound to move away.

“Since I beat you in this competition,” Akira said, “are you mine now?”

Goro swatted him on the head. “Our votes were the same, remember?”

“But I was clearly second place.”

“Shut up,” Goro laughed. “We need to keep silent if I’m going to steal Kanji’s dress.”

  
  


~...~

  
  


The cooking competition was to start only ten minutes after the end of the cross-dressing competition, so people like Goro and Akira were definitely in a hurry, quickly rushing to the classrooms to squeeze out of their pantyhose and remove their makeup. However, before Goro could leave, someone caught his arm.

He was about to brush the person away with an excuse when he realised it was Rise Kujikawa.

“Hello, Goro-kun!” She said with a warm smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Goro smiled back with all the professionalism he could muster. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“No, it’s wonderful to meet _you!_ ” Rise’s smile only grew wider and more friendly, outshining Goro by a hair’s length. Goro felt something simmering from deep within him. He was not going to lose to this stupid idol. 

“I’m a huge fan of your work, Rise-chan. Can I call you Rise-chan?” Goro laughed then, channelling his years of experience as a talk show guest. “Your new album _Tofu Troubles_ is the best one yet. I’m especially partial to _Stop Pushing People Into TVs_ \- it simply touches the heart with its message of love and peace!”

Rise giggled. “I’m flattered, but it’s you who really deserves praise. After all, you solved the legendary _Pancake Pandemonium_ case, as well as the _Honey Home Homicide!”_

Both of them had dropped two specifics, making them evenly matched. Goro gritted his teeth in a grin. Rise grinned back.

Akira could feel the metaphorical gunpowder in the air. “Goro, we have to go, or we’ll be late!”

“Wait, please,” Rise said. “Goro, can we take a photo together? I’d like to commemorate this occasion with everyone online.

Goro nodded. His fans in Shugami had gone crazy over his more feminine look, surely his other fans would be no different. “Sure!”

As both of them beamed at Rise’s camera, Akira was sure that the camera was going to explode from the tension.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Over the past few days, the student council had prepared the school field for the cooking competition. Tables were laid out in neat rows, one for each class, while plastic chairs had been set up for onlookers. Upon learning that Goro Akechi was participating, the school had permitted the student council to set up large boundaries around the tables, hoping it would keep most of the fangirls and fanboys out.

The number of teams was overwhelming. Students swarmed the tables, each one of them with two members, while another two members were sitting on the plastic seats as backup. Goro couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. He had a food blog, for God’s sake. His reputation was on the line.

Yosuke and Yu gave him two thumbs-ups from the chairs. He rolled his eyes. If the two of them had practised cooking at all, maybe they could have taken his place.

Usually, the maniacal screeching of his fans would have comforted him, but this time, all they did was stress him further. After all, he was doing this for them. If he disappointed them, his credibility would be ruined, and there was no way that was going to happen. No way at all. Goro took a deep breath, trying to quell the hammering of his heart.

“Goro, look at me,” Akira said. Then, he used a napkin to dap at the other boy’s mouth. “You still have a bit of lipstick on.”

Half of the girls and boys in the aisles started swooning, while the other half shouted at Akira to get his dirty hands off their pure, sweet Goro-kun. All of them started taking pictures.

“Damn it,” Goro said softly as he waved at his fans. Akira snorted.

Then, he put his arms around Goro, burying the other boy’s face in his chest.

The screaming only got louder, drowning the world around Goro in sound. A part of him was a little comforted, but another part of him wanted to push the other boy away and distance himself as much as he could. “What are you doing, Akira?”

“Don’t you see how stupid your fans are?” Akira sighed, They’ll react to every single thing, no matter how big or small.”

Goro tried to protest but Akira just silenced him with one of his hands. 

“You don’t get it, I’m not trying to attack you. My point is, there’s no need to try to impress them. I know that they were your only reason for participating in this competition in the first place, but their opinion of you isn’t worth your time.” Akira lifted Goro’s face upwards to meet his gaze. His eyes shone with sincerity. “Goro, you’re incredible whether or not you win their favour. You’ve worked so hard to win this competition. Don’t do this for them, do this for you, okay?”

The words spilled out of Goro’s mouth. “It’s hard when everything you’ve ever done has been to impress.”

“Well,” Akira said softly, “it’s never too late to start.”

Akira had always seemed like one massive joker, injecting humour inappropriately at every single moment, but there was nothing farcical in the way he was holding Goro. There was something beautiful about this inconsistency, the way he was biting his lip, and his brows were furrowed. 

“Okay,” Goro whispered back.

Then, Akira ruffled his hair and pulled away, a huge grin on his face. Goro grinned back, his expression unpolished, but more luminously foolish than any smile he’d had in years.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Unexpectedly, the judges and host of the cooking competition were exactly the same as that of the cross-dressing competition. They stood at the very centre of the aisle between the tables, close enough for each table to reach conveniently. When it was time for the competition to begin, all the contestants gathered at the ingredients table, which was covered by a long gift box. 

“Hello, one and all, and welcome to this year’s Cooking Championships!” Rise’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker she was holding. The crowd cheered. 

“As always, each team will have to present three dishes, each one based on a theme provided by the judges’ panel. Each team has two hours to create their unique dishes using only the ingredients provided by the school, all of which can be found on the table right in front of me. Of course, nothing you create can compete with the full course meal we have right here.”

Rise gestured at her own body. The crowd roared with laughter. Goro laughed politely as well, but his eyes were narrowed. That joke was weak, cliche, and uncouth - none of the qualities that an idol should ever aspire to. Rise Kujikawa should be ashamed of herself. Goro would certainly feel embarrassed if he were her.

“Now, let’s put our hands together to invite Lala-chan to announce the theme of today’s dishes. Lala-chan, please.”

Lala-chan smiled. “I’ve consulted with the judges, and we’ve decided that the theme of today’s competition is ‘FIRE’. Please create one entree, one main course and one dessert based on this theme. We hope that this will light a fire under your belly, which will then light a fire in our bellies too.” 

The audience started gossiping amongst themselves, but Rise raised her hand, silencing them instantly. She stared at the competitors. They stared back.

“Now, let the competition begin!”

Immediately, Ryuji and Yusuke lifted the box from either end of the table, unveiling the different ingredients. There were endless varieties of spices and fresh produce, more ingredients than Goro could name, more ingredients than Goro could _count._

Goro turned to Akira. “So, what are we going to do?”

“We can do curry for the main course and chocolate lava cake for the dessert, but I don’t have an idea for the entree.” Akira shrugged. “Do you think that curry is a bit obvious?”

“A spicy dish is definitely obvious, but I know for a fact that your curry’s the best I’ve ever tasted.”

“High praise from a gourmet slash food blogger.”

“Shut up and think of an entree,” Goro sighed, half-heartedly suppressing a smile. He scoured his brain for ideas, remembering the countless gourmet foods he’d photographed and tasted in the hopes of penning yet another viral blog post. 

“Do you think you could… flambe something? I know it’s kind of a long shot, but....”

“Actually, I _could_ flambe some crepes for the entree,” Akira said thoughtfully. “We could bake the lava cake together, but I wouldn’t be able to supervise you as much while you cook the curry. Are you okay with that?

“You can count on me.”

Together, the two of them walked systematically down the table of ingredients, quickly gathering what they needed and moving it back to their work station. The area was packed and the stoves were unfamiliar. Goro looked at them hesitantly.

“Goro?” 

“It’s fine, just nerves.” Goro took a deep breath. He imagined that he was on yet another talk show, sharing details about the struggles that came with balancing his reputation as a skilled detective with his school work and social life. That was something he always practised for. This was something he’d practised for too. Goro was good at cooking - he knew that, and he knew the two recipes that he was responsible for. He’d already overcome so much in his life. This was nothing.

The lava cake was easy enough - he had Akira’s help, after all, and simply needed to follow instructions. But to keep to the time, he had to work on the curry as well. A part of Goro still hesitated when chopping the chicken into pieces, especially as he considered how bloodthirsty he might seem to his fans, but he quickly cast his thoughts aside. He was proud of the cooking skills he’d learnt alongside Akira. He had to do this for himself.

“And now, for class 2B.” Rise had been circling the area, interviewing every team she came across. Now, she approached Akira, microphone in hand. “What are the two of you cooking for us today?”

Goro observed the panicked expression on Akira’s face and decided to take one for the team.

“Hello, Rise-chan! The theme of fire was a rather difficult one to interpret, which makes it perfect for a competition like this. We knew that spicy foods were the most obvious choice, so we wanted to stick out from the crowd by cooking foods that reflect the idea of fire in ways that go beyond the obvious. Therefore, we decided to go with flambeed crepes for our entree, curry for our main course and chocolate lava cake for our dessert. Each one reflects a different side of fire, the way its melts and molds, the heat and spice it brings, as well as the molten, liquid nature of lava.” 

Rise whistled. “That’s a very interesting and unique concept, Goro-kun, especially since the two of you had such a short time to come up with it. Your partner must be thanking his lucky stars that he has a genius ace detective for a partner.

Akira looked up from the crepes with a smile. “I am. Goro’s amazing.”

Goro smiled back, his heart brimming with pride. In that moment, he truly felt as if he and Akira were equal partners in this endeavour, reaching for victory.

The rest of the cooking went smoothly. Goro had a few slip-ups, but there was nothing he couldn’t handle with a bit of improvisation and a few reassuring glances from Akira. The two of them had cooked together so often, reading each other’s cues was almost second nature. As he observed the actions of the teams around them, Goro could feel the unity that he and Akira possessed which the other teams seemed to lack. There was something about the way the two of them understood each other so easily that Goro had always taken for granted, but could not be more grateful for. 

Eventually, it was almost time for them to stop cooking. Goro put a few last finishing touches on the dishes, ensuring that the way they were plated was worthy of a Michelin star. Akira did the same with his taste buds, ensuring that every dish tasted incredible. After their final touch-ups, the two of them locked eyes and smiled.

They did exactly the same thing when Rise announced that they’d won the competition.

  
  


~...~

  
  


“Everyone, I think it’s fair to say that this year’s culture festival was a complete success!”

The student council cheered, but was quickly shushed by the librarian.

“Why are we having our meeting here again?” Yosuke sighed.

Ryuji scowled. “Because Makoto loves the library sooo much.”

“And it’s that same Makoto that bought a cake to celebrate this occasion,” Haru said. “Do you think she’ll still give you a slice if you keep badmouthing her?”

“Oh come on, deep down, Makoto’s kind of nice. She would never do that.”

Makoto frowned. “Deep down?”

Ryuji shrugged. Both Ann and Makoto glared at him with such intensity that he seemed to shrivel up on the spot.

“Maybe Makoto won’t deprive you of your cake,” Haru said, “but I will.”

“Anyway, let’s focus on celebrating!” Ann exclaimed. “Yosuke, you were a beautiful girl! I think everyone was shocked to see how pretty you could be.”

“Thank you, Ann,” Yosuke said sheepishly. 

“Oh come on, don’t be so embarrassed. You were amazing!” Ann said. “Right, Yu?”

Yu froze. Yosuke turned to him, his expression hesitant, vulnerable. Yu didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Yosuke was definitely… beautiful,” he said. Then, he downed the entire cup of tea in front of him.

“Goodness, Yu, are you okay?” Haru asked. “That tea was scalding hot.”

Yu’s eyes were bulging and teary. “I’m alright,” he croaked.

Ryuji shrugged. “I don’t know, I thought I was a pretty hot lady too.”

“Do you guys agree?” he added hesitantly. He was staring at Yusuke from the corner of his eye.

“I don’t know,” Ann said. “I thought you looked about the same as usual. We could see your muscles and everything.”

“Really, Ann?” Makoto sighed.

“You might not have been the most feminine,” Yusuke said, his eyes seemingly shut with concentration. “But you were definitely bursting with sexual power. Just imagining it in my mind’s eye gives me chills.”

Ryuji almost fell off his chair, along with every other member of the student council. “For real? Who the hell says that?”

“Those are just my honest emotions,” Yusuke said hotly. 

The library fell silent.

“Hey,” Yosuke said. “Why does everyone seem so awkward?”

The rest of the student council stared at Yosuke. Yu patted his head affectionately.

“Anyway, when we’re finished with the cake, why don’t you all enjoy the booths?” Makoto said. “After all, this is what we created together. We deserve to enjoy it too.”

“Alright!” Yosuke cheered. “Actually, there’s one of those game stations I spotted that seemed kind of fun…”

  
  


~...~

  
  


Which was how Yu found himself watching Yosuke fail at the same target shooting station for the twentieth time that day. Each time, Yosuke paid the stallholder a dollar. And every time, the stallholder’s grin got a little wider.

The stall was obviously rigged. Yosuke always started with the one on the extreme left, and always failed to shoot over the one right in the middle, no matter how much he tried. Yet somehow, Yosuke didn’t seem to notice. He didn’t seem as if he was about to give up either.

“Yosuke, is something wrong?”

“Not really,” Yosuke said. But his lips were twisted into a severe frown. 

“Then, perhaps we could go to another booth?” 

Yosuke shook his head. “I have my eye on this one.”

Yu watched as Yosuke handed over five more dollars to the stallholder. For fifteen minutes, apart from Yosuke’s cursing, the two of them sat there in silence.

“Stop that,” Yosuke finally said.

“Stop what?”

“Stop staring at me. I know what you’re thinking.”

Yosuke continued firing at the targets. Yu continued staring at him. Yosuke sighed.

“The reason why I’m so focused on this stall is because it’s the only one with prizes.”

Yu raised an eyebrow. The prizes that the stall was offering were all plushies that could easily be bought from the shopping mall down the street. 

“If you want one, we can go and buy one from-”

“I don’t want the prize for me,” Yosuke said. “I want to win it for you.”

“Why?”

Yosuke shook his head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

The air was tense, but Yu couldn’t stop his heart from fluttering. What did he mean by that? Why was he so bent on getting Yu a gift? Was Yumi wrong after all? Did Yosuke feel the same way?

In his heart, Yu knew that Yosuke was preoccupied with something else. But hope is one of those things that’s near impossible to clamp down, and Yu found himself hoping, and hoping, and hoping.

Eventually, after Yosuke had paid five more dollars, he finally gave up.

“We can leave now,” he said. 

“Wait,” Yu said. He then walked up to the stallholder. 

“Hello, councilman!” The stallholder smiled brightly. “Would you like to participate as well?”

Instead, Yu pushed the target right in the middle with his hand. It didn’t budge.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

The stallholder crossed his arms. “Look, the two of you inspected this stall last week. It’s too late to find faults with it now.”

“Well, this target could be knocked down last week,” Yu said. “This sort of behaviour is horrifically dishonest and devoid of the integrity that our school prides itself upon. Do you want me to report you to the school?”

The stallholder glared at Yu. “No.”

“Then, might I suggest that you return my friend here all of his money,” Yu said. “And give me one of your plushies, please.”

  
  


~...~

  
  


Somehow, Yosuke didn’t seem much happier when Yu gifted him the Pikachu soft toy he’d blackmailed out of the stallholder. But he certainly brightened up as they continued viewing the different stalls, eating the sticks of candy floss being sold by enterprising students. The way Yosuke’s face lit up with delight as he dug in was so adorable, it nearly brought Yu to his knees. The two of them then headed to a secluded bench near the school field to watch the sunset.

“You know, partner?” Yosuke said, candy floss in one hand, plushie in the other. “I actually had a lot of fun today.”

“Me too,” Yu said softly. The sunlight glinted off Yosuke’s tawny hair, illuminating the brilliant brown orbs that were his eyes. The world seemed to slow around Yosuke, as if compelled by a gravitational pull. Yu could feel himself sucked in in the exact same way.

“Isn’t this beautiful?” Yosuke watched as the blooming amber sun cascaded into rivulets of violet

Yu could stay in this moment forever. “Yes, yes it is.”

But it wasn’t all he wanted. Yu wanted, he _needed_ more.

“You know, Yosuke,” _It was now or never._ “I really… like you.”

Yosuke smiled. “I like you too.”

A smile burst onto Yu’s face like a falling star, his cheeks flushed with warmth. He’d never thought that Yosuke would like him back, even in his wildest dreams. He would have given anything for Yosuke’s love. For Yosuke to give it to him without cost, with only the gentlest of smiles-

“We wouldn’t be best friends if we didn’t like each other, would we?” Yosuke laughed.

Yu’s face fell.

“No, I suppose not,” Yu sighed, trying to regain his composure. In seconds, the best day of his life had become one of the worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what if we hugged in front of all of your adoring fans (and we're both boys 😳😳)
> 
> Sigh well thank GOD I'm finally releasing this chapter... honestly? It took so fucking long for me to get here and I'm glad that it's finally out in the world and can't even bother me again. Somehow, altho words and chapter-wise this is in the later half of the fic, in my mind it's only chapter 5 or sth? Wonder why...
> 
> The cross-dressing competition is such a :/ well thank god Futaba's there I guess to make things a little better. Stan Miss Yoghurt our muscle queen please bend me with your huge, huge arms.
> 
> I think it's so funny how Yu accidentally wrecks Yosuke's self-esteem like he already felt useless and you made him feel even more useless out of love... sucks to suck I guess.
> 
> Next chapter will be full of cringe but what's new with This Cast? Fasten your seatbelts because I'm not paying for your god damn insurance Marlene.


	8. In Which Matchmaking Happens (Intentionally)

Goro’s room was incredibly crowded. 

Yu wasn’t back yet, but Akira was with Goro, still on the high of winning the cooking competition. Futaba had tagged along too, still freaking out over the fact that that _wasn’t_ Principal Kobayakawa she’d been talking to all day while ensuring that Goro and Akira weren’t “woo-hooing’. With a start, Goro realised that this was the first time he’d invited so many friends into a place as personal as the place he lived. It did feel a little dangerous, but it also filled Goro with a certain thrill. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling, and neither could Akira, at least from the glances he kept sending Goro’s way.

There was a knock at the door. Had Yu forgotten his keys? Goro rushed to open it. 

Instead, he found himself face to face with Makoto. “Is Yu in?” 

Goro shook his head. “Wasn’t he with the student council?”

“Yes.” Makoto sighed, “but he and Yosuke went to visit the different booths. The expression on Yu’s face... “

Goro was about to speak, but the downcast looks that the newcomers sent him stopped him in his tracks.

“You’re Goro, right?” A strawberry blonde girl that Goro recognised as Haru Okumura said. “Is it fine if the five of us wait for Yu here? We’ll explain once everyone’s calmed down.”

Well, if something really _had_ happened to Yu, Goro would try to help him as much as he could. He shifted aside wordlessly, gesturing for the student council to enter. 

One by one, the five of them filed in, each of them taking a seat on the floor.

“What’s going on?” Akira asked.

Goro shrugged. “Apparently, something’s happened to Yu.”

“Technically, we don’t know for sure,” Makoto said. “But chances are, Yu really needs a support system right now.”

“Should we call Yosuke then?”

“No,” A girl with platinum blonde pigtails said. “Anything but that.”

“Why?”

“Because we think Yu confessed to Yosuke,” Makoto said.

At that moment, the door was unlocked. It swung open as Yu entered the room. His friends all stared at him as he made his way to the bed. Then, he slumped over, and planting his face into the mattress. 

  
  


~...~

  
  


After ten minutes, including a host of self-introductions, Akira and Futaba returned, with Akira holding a bag of chicken soup and Futaba holding a tub of ice cream. The two of them laid their offerings on the table in the centre of the room as Haru and Makoto helped Yu to his feet, giving him a seat at said table. 

Akira gave him a small sip of the chicken soup. “Do you feel better now?”

Yu nodded, but his eyes were brimming with tears.

“I just don’t understand why…” Yu’s voice was choked up. Patting him on the back, Haru gave him another sip of the chicken soup. 

“Yu, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Ann said. “Being rejected isn’t the end of the world. I was rejected once too.”

“Really?” Ryuji exclaimed.

“Really?” Goro, who had been comparing Ann’s looks with his own for the past ten minutes, exclaimed.

“Really?” Futaba gasped. “Even with those boo-”

“Don’t make me tell Sojiro,” Akira warned. Futaba rolled her eyes and began to sulk.

“Granted, it was my scholarship application which was rejected, but..” The whole room groaned.

“That’s not the same, Ann!” Yusuke said. “Scholarships are concerned with the material. Love is a matter of the heart.”

“It’s fine,” Yu said. “I did confess, but I wasn’t rejected.”

“Then why are you so depressed?” Goro said. “Have you finally realised how bad Yosuke’s hair looks?”

Futaba gasped. “Did he want you to join a polyamorous relationship?”

“I was just about to suggest that!” Ann said. “Or maybe, you found out that he has a weird kink like scat?”

“All of you, please shut up.” Makoto sighed. “What happened, Yu?”

“When I told him I liked him, he told me that he liked me back, before saying that it was natural for best friends to like one another,” Yu sighed. “He doesn’t even see me in a romantic way. Am I really that unattractive?”

Ryuji scanned Yu’s broad shoulders and chiselled jawline. “No, not at all.”

Yusuke rolled his eyes. Ryuji didn’t seem to notice.

“You know what? I’ve had enough of this!” Futaba exclaimed. “We can’t sit here and do nothing. We need to give Yu and Yosuke their true ending!”

“I agree completely!” Ann said. “God, I’ve wanted to matchmake the two of them for so long.”

“Will that really help?” Ryuji asked. 

Ann glared at him.

“I mean, I support this matchmaking project too,” Ryuji sighed. “Whatever. I’m sure it’ll be great.”

“And I, of course,” Yusuke said, “willingly dedicate myself to the pursuit of the tenderness that is young love!

Goro bit his lip. He wanted to help Yu, of course, but in order to help Yu, he needed to know what Yu wanted. He studied Yu’s face, but as always, it was difficult to read.

“Yu, do you think matchmaking you and Yosuke is a good idea?”

The room turned silent. Everyone’s eyes were on Yu as they awaited his decision.

“Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

Futaba and Ann cheered.

“In that case, I’ll help as well,” Goro said.

“Me too,” Akira said. He and Goro shared a smile.

“Haru and I will too, but we do have our own responsibilities to deal with, so we might not be able to assist as much.” Makoto gave Yu a meaningful look. “But we’ll always be here if you need anything.”

“Then, it’s settled!” Futaba said. “Let Operation Hanakami begin!”

  
  


~...~

  
  


* * *

GROUP CHAT: **OPERATION HANAKAMI**

MEMBERS: 

**FUTABA SAKURA** **_(G4MERGIRL),_ ** **RYUJI SAKOMOTO** **_(MONKEYBOY),_ **

**YUSUKE KITAGAWA** **_(_ ** **𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **_)_ ** **, MAKOTO NIIJIMA** **_(Makoto Niijima),_ **

**ANN TAKAMAKI** **_(♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥)_ ** **, GORO AKECHI** **_(Goro Akechi)_ ** **,**

 **AKIRA KURUSU (** **_THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE_ ** **), HARU OKUMURA** **_(Tea-Rex)_ **

* * *

  
  
  


**G4MERGIRL [10.52pm**

did i get anyone’s number wrong?

  
  


**MONKEYBOY [10.52pm]**

no everyone’s here

  
  


**G4MERGIRL [10.53pm]**

okay. anyway, OPERATION HANAKAMI starts now!

**𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **[10.54pm]**

Do we have to call it Operation Hanakami? A name like that simply lacks elegance.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [10.54pm]**

Ur mom lacks elegance ;)

**𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **[10.54pm]**

She’s dead.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [10.54pm]**

Oh

Omg

Sorry dude I didn’t mean to say sth so inappropriate

**G4MERGIRL [10.55pm]**

yeah Akira why’re you always fucking everything up??

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [10.55pm]**

Shut up Futaba or I won’t cook you dinner for the rest of the week

**G4MERGIRL [10.55pm]**

tf :(

fine,,, I’m sorry ok

hey Yusuke sorry for all that

**𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **[10.55pm]**

It’s alright, neither of you meant any harm.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[11.00pm]**

Hi guys :))

So, how are we going to set Yu and Yosuke up?? I’m rly excited haha

**Goro Akechi [11.02pm]**

Before we continue, G4MERGIRL is Futaba and nymphaea is Yusuke, yes? 

I’ll assume that MONKEYBOY is Ryuji and THE “PRETTY” ONE is Ann.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[11.02pm]**

Yeah, that’s about right!

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [11.03pm]**

Smh Goro-kun do you rly think ur slick for using quotation marks?? Don’t fool urself -_-

Ann will always be more beautiful than you ~ <3

**Goro Akechi [11.03pm]**

Thank you for your opinion, person who made fun of Yusuke for his late mother. 

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [11.03pm]**

Heyyyy this is bullying T-T

**Goro Akechi [11.03pm]**

And making fun of Yusuke wasn’t bullying?

**Tea-Rex [11.03pm]**

Anyway…

Hello everyone, this is Haru here. _@G4MERGIRL_ , you said you had a plan to help Yu earlier? Could you share it here perhaps?

**G4MERGIRL [11.04pm]**

omg u’re right!

ok this is gonna be a lot of text everyone get. ready 

* * *

_ > INCOMING CALL FROM TACHIBANA-SAN _

* * *

“Hello?”

“Thank you for picking up, Akechi. I know it’s late and you’ve had a long day, so I’ll try to be as fast as possible. So, I understand that you had a lot of fun at your school festival?”

“I did. It was far more enjoyable than I’d expected. Thank you for inquiring after me.”

Goro’s agent paused. “That’s not what I meant. Do you know that you’re trending on Twitter?”

“Really?” Goro turned on his laptop. His name was, indeed, trending. There were multiple pictures being circulated, including a picture of him and Rise during the cross-dressing competition, but also another picture of Akira embracing him during the cooking competition. 

“Does Goro Akechi is gay?” one caption read.

“Kyaaa, I can’t believe Goro Akechi is gay T-T” another commentor had written.

“OMG GORO AKECHI IS GAY T‿T” This commentor had included a gif of a woman saying “I’m so used to giving and now I get to receive.”

But others didn’t seem so convinced. “Y’all dumb af lol do you see the way Goro’s smiling in that picture with Rise? Relationship goals, the boy probably participated in all those competitions to see Rise tbh.”

“Just because two boys hug doesn’t mean that they’re in love!! Can we normalise affection between men already jfc”

“Tachibana-san, I can explain,” Goro said.

“You don’t need to tell me about your personal relationships or your sexuality,” Tachibana sighed. “However, rumours that you aren’t straight can really hurt your public image. The number of interviews you’ll receive will decrease, and female fans will be turned off too.”

Goro bit his lip. “So, what do you want me to do?”

“Thank you for being so understanding. I want you and Risette to go on a fake date to dispel these rumours. It’s the only way I can make sure that your reputation remains untarnished.”

“The only way?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then,” Goro’s heart sunk. He knew that Akira had a low opinion of his fans and the things Goro would do to gain their favour. He could only hope that Akira would understand.

  
  


~...~

  
  


“Oracle to Crow, are the three of you in position?” Goro could hear Futaba’s voice from his earpiece.

Goro cringed internally. He still felt that the code names - and even the earpieces - were a little excessive, but Akira and Futaba had insisted, probably because of some anime they were obsessed with at the moment. Goro made sure that Akira and Ann were beside him. “We’re ready.”

“Great,” Futaba said. “Joker, remember not to goof off too much. And you’d better not blow our cover, Panther!”

“I got it,” Ann said. “I’m an actress.”

Goro stiffened. So he didn’t just have to compete with Ann in the looks department, but also in the acting department? Well, challenge accepted.

“Finally, Crow,” Futaba said. “Remember not to-”

The door opened suddenly, which made the four of them jump. Yosuke peeked out, his hair still dishevelled from sleep.

“Hey guys, why are you standing outside my door?” Yosuke asked.

“Oh… er… we were just passing by when we saw Akira, haha.” Ann said. “So we felt like popping by to talk to him? Haha.”

Ann laughed nervously yet again. Goro could hardly keep his eyes from rolling. Perhaps he needn’t have worried about competing with Ann after all.

“Speaking of which,” Yosuke said. “Why didn’t you wake me up, Akira? And how did you get to know Ann and Yusuke?”

“Wait, Yosuke’s actually smart?” Futaba shrieked, bursting a few eardrums. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“I didn’t want to disturb you, you were sleeping so soundly,” Akira said, the smile on his face too wide to be fake. He was clearly enjoying himself at the expense of every other member of the matchmaking team. “I really like you, after all.”

Goro repressed a snort.

“That’s funny, Yu said the same thing to me yesterday!” Yosuke said.

Ann looked as if she was about to faint.

“Really? What a coincidence,” Goro said. “As for how we know Ann, we met her yesterday when she was applying your makeup, remember? Later, we saw her at the festival, and I guess we just… hit it off.”

“Yeah! Exactly,” Ann said. 

“Okay,” Yosuke nodded. “Do you guys want to grab breakfast together? Assuming Yu’s awake too, of course.”

Goro smiled. This was their chance. “Why don’t you go on ahead? We’ll meet you later.”

Yosuke raised an eyebrow. “You know what, there’s something very suspicious about all this. Ann, you’re clearly very flustered for some reason, and Akira and Goro are far too pleased with themselves. Out with it, what’s going on? And why can’t you talk about it in front of me?”

“What? What’s suspicious? I’m not being suspicious!” Ann exclaimed suspiciously.

“Very suspicious indeed,” Akira noted.

“Akira, shut up!” Futaba exclaimed.

“I know, right?” Ann sighed. Yosuke gave Ann an odd look.

“What?”

“Did you just agree that you’re acting in a very suspicious way?” Yosuke asked.

“No,” Ann said in confusion. “Wait, I mean yes?”

“Anyway,” Goro sighed. “I suppose you’ve found us out. The truth is, we heard that Yu has a girlfriend.”

“What?” Yosuke’s eyes widened. Then he started laughing. “You guys have got to be kidding me.”

“No, it’s true. The entire school knows about it at this point.”

“Really?” Yosuke said. “Then name me one thing about her. If you don’t know any details, the rumour’s probably fake, don’t you think?”

Ann, Goro and Akira stood there in silence.

“Come on, say something!” Goro could hear the faintly audible sound of Futaba smashing her fist against the table. The three of them blurted out something at the exact same time.

“She’s a model,” Goro said.

“She speaks three different languages fluently,” Akira said.

“She has a very specific bondage kink,” Ann said.

The sound of Futaba slamming her entire face against the table reverberated from Goro’s earpiece.

“Seriously?” Yosuke said. Goro felt his heart sink. Yosuke was dumb, but there was no way he was this dum-

“So Yu’s new girlfriend is a model who speaks three languages fluently that also has a very specific bondage kink?” Yosuke said.

“Yes, that’s it!” Ann said. “Exactly!

“Huh,” Yosuke crossed his arms. “Really. That’s kind of weird. Almost hard to believe.”

“Yeah, because she doesn’t exist!” Futaba groaned.

“Why didn’t he tell me, though,” Yosuke said. “I mean, we’re great friends and all. He wouldn’t keep secrets like that from me, would he?”

“I don’t know, sometimes couples are just like that, you know?” Ann said. 

Something about the idea of Yu having someone that he was closer to than Yosuke, someone who he shared more with, irked him. The two of them were best friends, to the point that they called each other partners, but if there was something that Yu shared with his girlfriend that Yosuke didn’t share with Yu, it meant that Yosuke wasn’t really Yu’s best friend any more. Yosuke had never considered that Yu would ever choose someone else over him, and the thought of it made him sick to his stomache.

  
  


~...~

  
  


* * *

GROUP CHAT: **OPERATION HANAKAMI**

MEMBERS: 

**FUTABA SAKURA** **_(G4MERGIRL),_ ** **RYUJI SAKOMOTO** **_(MONKEYBOY),_ **

**YUSUKE KITAGAWA** **_(_ ** **𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **_)_ ** **, MAKOTO NIIJIMA** **_(Makoto Niijima),_ **

**ANN TAKAMAKI** **_(♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥)_ ** **, GORO AKECHI** **_(Goro Akechi)_ ** **,**

 **AKIRA KURUSU (** **_THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE_ ** **), HARU OKUMURA** **_(Tea-Rex)_**

* * *

**MONKEYBOY [7.43am]**

so

did you guys succeed?

**G4MERGIRL [7.44am]**

i wouldn’t call it a success… but in a way, i guess it was?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [7.44am]**

Very that.

**Goro Akechi [7.44am]**

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

**MONKEYBOY [7.45am]**

what does that even mean????

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[7.45am]**

Just stop asking, Ryuji!

~...~

  
  


Over the past few weeks, Goro had learnt to befriend other people his age in a more personal way than he’d thought possible. Naturally, he was now trying to do the same with the other students in his criminal justice class while they were on their little “field trip” to the latest mental shutdown crime scene.

Well, all he could say was that it was a lot harder than he’d thought it would be.

“The wheels on the bus go round and round!” Chie sang.

“Round and round!” Kanji repeated, with a grating voice that sounded as if it was more suited to death metal.

“Round and round.”

“Round!”

“Round and round!” Chie shrieked, her pitchy voice going remarkably off-tune.

Goro cringed on the inside, but ensured that his expression remained perfectly inscrutable.

“What’s wrong, Goro?” Makoto asked. The two of them had sat beside one another to the back of the bus, with Naoto positioned in front of them. And before Naoto sat Kanji and Chie, with the latter of the two unsubtly winking at Kanji all the while, as if reminding him of the detective that sat just behind him. “Don’t you know the lyrics to the song?”

“I do,” Goro said. “It’s quite a popular one among children, isn’t it?”

“Then why aren’t you singing?”

Goro sighed. “Stop teasing me, Makoto.”

“It’s difficult to when you’re looking at Chie and Kanji so judgmentally,” Makoto said.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Goro,” Naoto said with a blank expression on their face. “I don’t know the lyrics either, but it’s quite easy to pick up on it ”

Goro stared at them, gobsmacked. “Seriously?”

“Yes, I have them written down right here.” Naoto lifted up their notebook, allowing Goro to see the lyrics through the seats.

“That’s… a lot of attention to detail for The Wheels On The Bus,” Chie said. Then she noticed the way Kanji was glaring at her. “Not that that’s a bad thing, of course.”

“Really?” Naoto said. “I don’t know, I never really sang The Wheels On The Bus when I was younger. All I had were detective novels and movies…”

“Was there something else you sang instead?” Goro asked.

Naoto nodded. “I was particularly fond of the Ace Attorney OST. It’s all instrumentals, but I used to do acapella covers with my grandfather.”

“Really?” Kanji asked. 

Naoto nodded. “Is that embarrassing?”

“No, not at all! It’s actually kinda…” Kanji trailed off. “Anyway, could you sing something for us?”

Naoto scratched their head. “Why?” 

“Because,” Kanji barked. “I just… I just want to hear the sound of your voice.”

Goro sighed and shook his head.

“Be quiet, Goro,” Makoto said. 

“Yeah, show a little appreciation for the innocence of young love,” Chie said.

“I’m not in love!” Kanji said. “And I’m not _that_ young. I’m an adult. Anyway, Naoto, if you don’t wanna sing, you don’t have to sing. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.” 

“Wow,” Chie said. “‘I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to’? That sounds really wrong out of context.”

“Shut up, senpai!”

“It’s alright, Kanji, I’ll try,” Naoto said. They took a deep breath and began.

Naoto’s voice was angelic, incredibly so. It flowed like water, but never once wavered in spite of its grace, Goro could feel his emotions rise and fall with the music. One moment, it was as if he was soaring among the clouds, and the next, it was as if he’d plunged into the neverending depths of the sea. 

“Wow,” Chie said when they’d finished, tears in her eyes. “That was so moving.”

_Damn it._

“Yeah, Jesus,” Kanji brushed his own tears away with a sleeve, trying his best and failing to pretend as if he was simply scratching at his nose.

“Really?” Naoto said. “Why? It was just the Ace Attorney soundtrack…”

_And it was just the Ace Attorney soundtrack?_

“You’re just… an excellent singer, Naoto,” Goro said through gritted teeth.

“You are,” Makoto agreed.

Naoto sat there for a few moments, a warm glow in their cheeks, full of innocent discovery.

“Hey, Naoto,” Kanji said hesitantly. “Why don’t you sing The Wheels On The Bus with us? We’d be happy to sing it with you.”

Goro bit his lip to stop himself from screaming.

“Sure, I will. I mean… if you’re sure.”

“Ah,” Chie sighed. “The beauty of young love knows no bounds.”

“I’m not in love, damn it! And I’m an adult!”

  
  


~...~

  
  


The fact that half of the bus was singing “The Wheels On The Bus” only got truly awkward when they got to the crime scene. The whole place was cordoned off with yellow tape, and there were police officers patrolling the perimeter of the scene. It was only then that the students on the bus were truly struck with the gravity of the situation, and how vital it was for them to take it seriously.

As the bus pulled up at the side of the road, Dojima stood up and headed to the back of the bus. “So, the Mental Shutdown Cases. Kanji, give me a brief summary.”

“The mental shutdown cases are a string of deaths that seem to have occurred suddenly for no apparent reason, with the most infamous case being the death of our late Prime Minister.”

“Good. Naoto, what kind of people typically have mental shutdowns?” 

“At first, there were some ordinary civilians who suffered from them, but in time, more and more politicians, company executives and other people in important positions experienced mental shutdowns, too many for such a trend to be a coincidence. That’s the reason why most people are so sure that someone is behind them.”

“Goro, what’s the most likely cause?”

“We have no idea. Most people seem to think it’s a drug. After all, many victims of mental shutdowns have collapsed in public, for seemingly no reason. However, there hasn’t been a single commonality among the autopsies that have been performed on each body.”

“Great,” Dojima said. “Now, are we ready to go?”

The most recent victim, Taeko Yasuhiro, was an up-and-coming politician rumoured to be in the running for next year’s presidential race, so it was no surprise that someone like her would have been targeted. The only problem was that people from other parties were also targeted at the same time, making it difficult for the police to figure out whose side the mastermind was on.

But Goro knew the answer. The only person Shido was allied with was himself.

Yasuhiro’s living room was immaculate. The embroidered curtains were drawn, the sofa was long and luxurious and it seemed as if there was some mysterious ornament no matter where Goro looked, from the glass menagerie on the coffee table to the bejewelled chandelier hanging overhead. 

It was a pity that this was also the room that Yasuhiro had died in. From the corners of her eyes leaked blood so thick it looked like ink. The very sight made Goro sick to his stomach.

“Well, I guess she really dirtied her carpet, huh?” Dojima laughed awkwardly. Everyone else stared at him.

“Alright, alright, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Jesus, why are you all so judgemental?” Dojima said. “Anyway, it’s time for me to show you guys how to inspect a crime scene. But before that, here’s a gentle reminder - you guys are gonna have to get used to seeing dead bodies.”

“Well, thanks for your comforting words,” Chie said under her breath.

“What?”

“Nothing, Dojima!”

Dojima started by going through the steps he and the other investigators had to take to carry out their investigation. Firstly, they established the scene dimensions and identified potential safety and health hazards. Then, they established the security of the house by surrounding it with yellow tape. Finally, they discussed some of the possible pieces of evidence they’d find at the crime scene. 

“For this investigation in particular, that doesn’t really matter,” Dojima said. “For obvious reasons.”

Dojima’s words echoed in Goro’s mind. No conclusive evidence had ever been found from a mental shutdown case.

He then instructed his students to watch him from the periphery of the crime scene as he inspected the room and the body. Goro watched as he swept the room methodically, taking pictures of the crime scene in every angle, before carefully picking up pieces of evidence with his gloves that he then slotted into small evidence bags. But for the most part, there was very little that Dojima could use. Eventually, he was satisfied.

“Alright, everyone, that’s it. It’s time for us to go,” Dojima said, walking towards the door. Then, for a split-second, there was a flash in his eye, and Dojima was kneeling on the floor, right beside Kanji. 

“Dude, I know I won Miss Shugami and all, but that doesn’t mean I’m always down to fuck, you know.”

“I’m not trying to blow you, Kanji,” Dojima stood up, this time, with a small orange vial in his hand. “I just saw this.”

The orange vial was empty, but it looked remarkably suspicious. Could this be the poison that had killed Yasuhiro? This couldn’t be good.

“I want all of you to see this vial,” Dojima said. “If called upon to do so, can all of you solemnly swear that you saw me find it here at this site?” 

His students nodded. With a grim smile, Dojima took a picture of the vial, with the rest of the room in the background.

As all of them left the crime scene, Goro could feel the hope seeping from the other students. This could be a breakthrough in the mental shutdown case, and they’d all witnessed it with their own two eyes! There was something surreal about the whole feeling, as if all of it had happened in a dream.

Before the bus went back to school, it stopped by the police station, where Dojima deposited the pieces of evidence that he’d collected. Only Goro seemed to notice that Dojima still had one evidence bag tucked neatly in his pocket.

  
  


~...~

  
  


“So what you’re saying is that the police might soon solve the case of the mental shutdowns?” Yukiko said with a frown. 

After their field trip, everyone but Dojima had decided to visit Crossroads together, and of course, Chie had decided to bring her girlfriend Yukiko along. It had been a little annoying at first, especially since Yukiko had insisted on taking approximately thirty photos with Goro that she promised not to post online, but afterwards, she’d shown herself to be surprisingly logical, though she did have an annoying sense of humour.

“Yeah!” Kanji said with a grin. 

“I wouldn’t say that,” Naoto said. “It’s not as if we have much of a choice. For all we know, that medicine bottle doesn’t have anything to do with the crime at all.”

“Yeah,” Kanji said with a sigh.

“Maybe they were sleeping pills,” Chie said.

“Haha, Chie, you’re so funny!” Yukiko laughed.

“But I didn’t say-”

“Oh my god, Chie, stop joking around, I’m losing my mind over here!”

Chie stared at her drink, confused. Kanji gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

“Chie’s right,” Goro said. “But at the same time, I think that the presence of a bottle of pills is highly suspicious. Dojima-san seemed to think so too.”

Akira nodded as he prepared yet another drink. “All of this is cool and all, but are you sure you guys can talk about this in public? At a bar of all places? What if the mastermind overhears?”

Goro took a sip from his drink. The mastermind had already overheard.

“That’s true,” Makoto said. “None of this is a joke, and we can’t afford to treat it as such.”

The other five students took a few moments to contemplate her words. 

“True enough,” Akira said. “I still wish I could tell Futaba though.”

Kanji nodded. “Yeah, it’s hard to keep stuff from people you’re close to.”

Akira shook his head. “No, it’s not that. The thing is… Futaba’s mother died from a mental shutdown.”

“What?” Goro’s eyes widened.

“She was an up-and-coming neuroscientist, said to be doing groundbreaking research on the human mind. Perhaps someone saw her as a threat and decided to get rid of her?” Akira shrugged. “Anyway, for some reason, her case wasn’t as publicised as the rest, and it was swept under the rug.”

“I know how you feel,’ Makoto said. “Haru’s father died because of a mental shutdown too. Even now, the video of her father suffering from a mental breakdown during a conference is circulating around the internet. She tries to hide it, but it’s clear that it bothers her. Not telling her anything hurts so much, especially when there’s so much she wants and deserves to know. I just want the people responsible to pay for what they’ve done.”

It was at that moment that Goro realised Makoto was looking at him from the corner of her eye. He felt every fibre of his body stiffen. For a moment, paranoia flooded his brain. Had Makoto seen him remove his thumb drive from Dojima’s computer? Was this all a ploy to guilt him into confessing his crimes?

Then, Makoto looked away, and the feeling was gone. Goro allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

He was probably overthinking things. After all, hadn’t it been Akira who’d started discussing his personal experiences with mental shutdowns? Maybe it was Goro’s own conscience at work, trying to convince him that this was all a mistake

Well, thank goodness Goro had spent a decade ignoring it.

  
  


~...~

  
  


* * *

_ > OUTGOING CALL TO SHIDO-SAN _

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While uploading this I saw that the "Rich Text" option disappeared for a few seconds and went all O_o like wtf but it came back just in time so Whatever I'm ok.
> 
> The police gang was never supposed to be that close in earlier drafts? Goro was never supposed to befriend Chie or Yukiko and Chie was going to be sidelined, basically, but I'm glad it turned out the way it did and Goro got *sniffs* the family he always wanted or whatever.
> 
> Also the formatting in all this is a NIGHTMARE like God the fact that align centre doesn't copy over... kill me right now.
> 
> Thank you for continuing to read all this! Hhhh Chapters 9-11 might be the best chapters in this fic so please stick around :/ have a good day and stuff :3


	9. In Which Matchmaking Happens (Intentionally)

The weather mirrored Goro’s emotions perfectly, which is to say that the sky was heavy with rain, the wind seemed impossibly strong and weather reporters all across the country were predicting the biggest floods in Japan’s history. It wasn’t that Goro was dreading his date with Rise (after all, the amount of money she earned every year guaranteed that he’d be treated to quite the meal), it was just that it happened to coincide with a study session that had been organised by the members of Operation Hanakami, and as Goro imagined the antics his friends were undoubtedly up to, he couldn’t help but wish he was there with them too.

That wasn’t the only reason why he was annoyed, though. The other reason was that Rise Kujikawa was already ten minutes late, and as pathetic as Goro had been lately, he still wasn’t the kind of person that got stood up. Goro tried to ignore the torturous screams of not one but two babies whilst pretending not to notice the swarms of teenage girls taking photographs of him. It was getting more and more difficult by the minute.

He was going to get Rise for this.

It was then that he felt a pair of hands grabbing his shoulders from behind. He jumped.

“Hello, Goro-kun!” Rise’s smile was as perfect as ever. Goro doubted it would have been if she’d been listening to the cries of infants for the last ten minutes. 

“Hello, Rise!” Goro responded with a flawless smile of his own. 

“So, are you ready for our date?” Rise said, a little too loudly. Goro’s fans reeled back, stunned. A couple of phones even dropped to the ground with dull clinks, their owners too shocked to keep their hands steady.

“Of course!” Goro said. Immediately, Rise clenched his arm in a vice-like grip. It wasn’t lustful, though. If anything, Goro felt like a machine part handled by a factory-worker, a person Rise could barely be bothered with. 

“Remember, at the end of our date, I deserve a kiss!” Rise exclaimed loudly, eliciting more gasps from the crowd. At the back of his head, Goro began to wonder if this was the right decision after all.

  
  


~...~

  
  


The study session was meant to be spent reading notes and practising exam skills.

Instead, Yosuke found himself reading the facial expressions of those around him and practising his self-control.

It wasn’t that Yosuke didn’t understand why Yu hadn’t told him about his new relationship status. It was just that… fine, it was exactly that.

Yosuke would have told Yu straight away. Weren’t they best friends? Didn’t best friends share everything with one another? There was a part of Yosuke that felt silly. Yu wasn’t him. He had different desires, needs, boundaries. But the other part of Yosuke didn’t care if his emotions were silly. He wanted Yu to tell him everything. Was that so wrong?

Or maybe Yosuke _wasn’t_ Yu’s best friend. Maybe he’d told his real best friend, who’d told Akira, Ann and Goro. Hell, maybe one of them was Yu’s best friend, which meant that Yosuke was being left behind… again. 

He’d never voiced it out, but he’d always felt unneeded. When he’d left for Inaba, none of his friends had remained in contact. Chie and Yukiko had always been closer to each other than him, which he understood. They were both girls, they were childhood friends, they were in a relationship… the list went on and on. And when they’d come to Shugami, they’d readily forgotten about him too. But Yosuke hadn’t minded. He had Yu.

At least, he’d thought he had Yu.

“Yosuke, are you alright?” 

Yosuke blinked rapidly, snapping out of his stupor. “Huh? Oh, yeah! Just having some problems with this question, that’s all.”

“I see,” Yu smiled. “Would you like me to help you?”

“Nah, it’s cool, partner,” Yosuke shook his head, seemingly distracted.

  
  


~...~

* * *

GROUP CHAT: **OPERATION HANAKAMI**

MEMBERS: 

**FUTABA SAKURA** **_(G4MERGIRL),_ ** **RYUJI SAKOMOTO** **_(MONKEYBOY),_ **

**YUSUKE KITAGAWA** ** _(_ ****𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **_)_ ****, MAKOTO NIIJIMA** ** _(Makoto Niijima),_**

 **ANN TAKAMAKI** **_(♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥)_ ** **, GORO AKECHI** **_(Goro Akechi)_ ** **,**

 **AKIRA KURUSU (** **_THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE_ ****), HARU OKUMURA** ** _(Tea-Rex)_**

* * *

**Yu Narukami [10.12am]**

Did you do something to Yosuke?

~...~

  
  


A beep sounded from the phones of both Akira and Ann, the only two people who had been free for the study session.

  
  


~...~

* * *

GROUP CHAT: **OPERATION HANAKAMI**

MEMBERS: 

**FUTABA SAKURA** **_(G4MERGIRL),_ ** **RYUJI SAKOMOTO** **_(MONKEYBOY),_ **

**YUSUKE KITAGAWA** ** _(_ ****𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **_)_ ****, MAKOTO NIIJIMA** ** _(Makoto Niijima),_**

 **ANN TAKAMAKI** **_(♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥)_ ** **, GORO AKECHI** **_(Goro Akechi)_ ** **,**

 **AKIRA KURUSU (** **_THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE_ ****), HARU OKUMURA** ** _(Tea-Rex)_**

* * *

  
  


**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [10.13am]**

Lmao we’re subtle af go team!! ^-^

  
  


~...~

  
  


“Are you guys in a group chat?” Yosuke asked. “That… I’m not in?”

“No, not at all!” Ann laughed a little too loudly. The librarian shot her a dirty look.

“It’s just a coincidence,” Akira said.

Yosuke remembered that Yu had been typing on his phone a few moments before. “Sure, I guess.”

~...~

* * *

GROUP CHAT: **OPERATION HANAKAMI**

MEMBERS: 

**FUTABA SAKURA** **_(G4MERGIRL),_ ** **RYUJI SAKOMOTO** **_(MONKEYBOY),_ **

**YUSUKE KITAGAWA** ** _(_ ****𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **_)_ ****, MAKOTO NIIJIMA** ** _(Makoto Niijima),_**

 **ANN TAKAMAKI** **_(♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥)_ ** **, GORO AKECHI** **_(Goro Akechi)_ ** **,**

 **AKIRA KURUSU (** **_THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE_ ****), HARU OKUMURA** ** _(Tea-Rex)_**

* * *

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[10.13am]**

Oh my goooood he suspects something what are we going to do what are we going to do what are we going to do guys do something!! Something

  
  


~...~

  
  


“God, I can’t believe Goro sent me another one of his interviews,” Akira said.

“Seriously? I can’t believe that guy!” Yosuke exclaimed, too consumed by annoyance to observe the relieved faces of his friends. “What do people see in his narcissism anyway?”

~...~

* * *

GROUP CHAT: **OPERATION HANAKAMI**

MEMBERS: 

**FUTABA SAKURA** **_(G4MERGIRL),_ ** **RYUJI SAKOMOTO** **_(MONKEYBOY),_ **

**YUSUKE KITAGAWA** ** _(_ ****𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒂** **_)_ ****, MAKOTO NIIJIMA** ** _(Makoto Niijima),_**

 **ANN TAKAMAKI** **_(♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥)_ ** **, GORO AKECHI** **_(Goro Akechi)_ ** **,**

 **AKIRA KURUSU (** **_THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE_ ****), HARU OKUMURA** ** _(Tea-Rex)_**

* * *

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [10.14am]**

When in doubt, just sabotage Goro-kun!! <3 Love you my prince T-T

  
  


**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[10.14am]**

Akira… you’re my hero……

**Yu Narukami [10.14am]**

Really, though, what’s going on?

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[10.15am]**

I think he’s jealous!!

He probably thinks that you have a girlfriend, right? So he wishes he was your s.o. Instead!

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [10.15am]**

Idk I think he’s thinking about Goro who still isn’t here… 

I know I am… ;(

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[10.15am]**

Calm down, Akira. Are you guys newlyweds or something?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [10.15am]**

We broke up two days ago :)

**Yu Narukami [10.16am]**

So, Yosuke’s just jealous? Really?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE [10.14am]**

Well, why don’t we find out? 

  
  


~...~

  
  


“Hey, Yu, why don’t you tell us more about your girlfriend?” Akira said

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Ann said.

“Why?” Yosuke said. “I’m kind of interested too. I mean, a girl who’s a model that speaks three languages fluently while having a very specific bondage kink must be really special, huh?”

“What?” Yu shot Ann and Akira an accusing look.

“Yeah, _really_ special,” Akira nodded. “A person like that seems almost impossible.”

Ann’s eyes bulged in a silent scream.

“Well, a girl who’s beautiful, has brains and is adventurous in the bedroom does sound a bit too good to be true,” Yosuke said. “Which is exactly what my partner here deserves.”

He clapped Yu on the back. What he was saying was true. Yu was perfect in every way - of course he deserved someone who was as well. So why did his words make his own heart sink?

“I… don’t think she’s that amazing,” Yu said, frowning slightly.

“Oh, come on, Yu? How could you say that about your girlfriend?” Ann said unnaturally, much like everything she’d said throughout the entire conversation. Why was she acting in such an odd way?

Then it hit Yosuke. Ann was Yu’s girlfriend.

It explained so much - why she was acting so weirdly all the time, why she had befriended Goro and Akira (they were her boyfriend’s friends after all), and why she seemed so reluctant to discuss Yu’s girlfriend while leaping to defend her from Yu’s negative remarks. In fact, now that Yosuke thought about it, she matched the description of Yu’s girlfriend perfectly. She was definitely a model - Yosuke had checked her Instagram page out enough times to know _that_ at least, and her European background suggested that she probably knew the most languages of everyone in the school. And as for the bondage thing, well, everyone knew that Ann was a bit of a freak.

When they’d chosen their seats earlier, Yosuke had opted to sit beside Yu, while Ann had decided to sit right opposite him. The sunlight glinted off her blonde locks, but the brightest parts of her were her eyes, blue as sapphires. She really was enchanting. 

Yu had to be deeply in love with her, and Yosuke couldn’t blame him. 

~...~

  
  


Goro’s entrance felt like a breath of fresh air. Between Yosuke’s uncomfortable refusals of Yu’s help and Ann’s even more uncomfortable laughter, Akira didn’t have anyone to talk to. It had been fine when Goro was texting him, but even then, all his answers had been a few words, and he still refused to tell Akira what he was doing for some reason that he also refused to tell Akira (Goro insisted that he wasn’t being suspicious. Akira thought that was very suspicious). 

So, seeing Goro in front of him, fake smile and all, brightened his day instantly.

Everyone else seemed to think so too. Yosuke and Goro started insulting each other immediately, the natural expression of their friendship, Ann was relieved that they now had something to discuss that had nothing to do with Yu’s fake girlfriend, and Yu, well, Yu was just happy that Yosuke was happy.

The other students in the library started talking too, of course. Goro tended to have that effect on other people. But for some reason, this time, they were speaking louder than usual. If Akira had been anyone else, he’d have thought it was his imagination, but Akira (not to brag) was practically Goro’s best friend in the whole school, if not (he hoped) the world, so he knew for a fact that something was very different this time.

“Hey, Goro, why’s everyone more excited about you today?” Akira grinned. “Scored another great interview?”

Goro groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Akira raised an eyebrow. Goro… didn’t want to brag about his achievements? He didn’t feel like basking in the attention of other people?

“Are you okay, Goro?” Akira raised a hand to Goro’s forehead, but Goro swatted it away. 

“Yes, I am. Quit it already, won’t you?” Goro sighed. 

“GORO AKECHI, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” Ryuji came screeching into the library, practically pouncing on Goro. The librarian’s life was immediately cut short by ten years.

“Sorry, Ryuji right?” Goro’s smile looked more strained than usual. “Perhaps we should all take a deep breath?”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH WHEN YOU’RE DATING RISETTE?”

Akira froze.

_What?_

Ann gasped. “Oh my god, it’s true. Look!”

The image on the screen of her phone showed Goro kissing a brunette that Akira instantly recognised as Rise Kujikawa. It almost felt like a movie scene, the way the two of them leaned towards one another beneath an umbrella, the perfect curls of their hair, the tenderness in both of their gazes. Although Akira didn’t want to admit it, the two of them looked perfect together.

Goro watched as Akira’s eyes hardened, his smile steeling itself over. “Oh, congratulations, Goro-kun! You got a real catch there.”

Goro glared at him. “Stop.”

“Aww, Goro, are you embarrassed?” Ann ruffled his hair. “She really is beautiful. You should be proud!”

“BEAUTIFUL?” Ryuji gesticulated madly. “SHE’S FUCKING FLAWLESS!”

“She really is,” Akira nodded. 

“Akira, why are you so angry?” Yosuke said.

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh, I get it. You had a crush on Rise too! Don’t worry, Akira, you’ll definitely get a girlfriend just as easily.”

“Yeah, Akira, you’re attractive too!” Ann beamed. “In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would have thought that Goro had a crush on you.”

Goro leapt to his feet, slamming his hands on the table.

“Everyone shut up!” he hissed. Then, he pulled a smile over his face.

“Ryuji, let’s go,” he said, loud enough for the other students to hear. “Sorry for bothering everyone! Best of luck in the upcoming exams.”

Akira knew that Goro didn’t mean to, but for a moment, he caught the other boy’s gaze. Goro’s eyes burned, a mix of storming emotions that Akira couldn’t put a name to. A part of Akira’s heart gave way, but that reminder of his own affection only served to fill him with even more bitterness. 

Akira could feel it - today was a day that he was going to regret. But for now, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Goro and Ryuji exited the library. As he heard the way Goro closed the door, gentle and calm, as if unbothered by what had transpired between the two of them, Akira could feel his anger grow.

~...~

  
  


Yu didn’t know what to do.

Earlier, it’d all been easy. Yosuke was having trouble with some of the questions he was doing, so Yu just had to help him. Although Yosuke seemed a little embarrassed, it was, well, rather cute, and it gave Yu an excuse to talk to him and, when he was bold enough, to brush against him. Even the slightest bit of physical contact filled Yu with soft joy. Sure, Ann kept gawking at the both of them and Akira was throwing a slight fit, but Yu wouldn’t miss this for the world.

And then, Yosuke had fallen asleep. It had happened slowly enough - Yosuke had started yawning a little, mumbling a few words about how he hadn’t been sleeping too well lately. And after a few minutes of staring at his textbook with half-lidded eyes, he’d nodded off, resting his head against Yu’s shoulder. Immediately, the other boy had stiffened his body, too scared to move.

A part of Yu remembered vaguely that he was supposed to be revising, but even the tiniest of movements could wake Yosuke up, and Yu didn’t want to take that risk. Instead, he’d decided to stare at Yosuke from the corner of his eye, watching as Yosuke burrowed his head against Yu’s shoulder. It was such an odd feeling - Yu was uncomfortable, definitely, but at the same time, he felt a tremendous warmth surging within him. As long as it made Yosuke happy, Yu would do anything.

His bliss was interrupted as Ann snapped a picture of the two of them. The phone camera let out a flash, startling Yu and almost causing Yosuke to tip over.

Yu shot Ann a dirty look.

“What?” she whispered. “It was really cute.”

 _Send it to me._ Yu mouthed.

Ann grinned. “Got it.”

Beside him, Yosuke let out a low growl as he moved slightly to his side, wrapping his arms around Yu’s waist. 

Ann took another picture.

_Really, Ann?_

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Ann sighed. “Come on, Akira, let’s get some lunch for the four of us! And we can look for Goro in the meantime too!”

Yu watched as the two of them left the library. Everyone else was engrossed in their notes. No one was staring at Yu or Yosuke. Perfect. Yu ran his free hand through Yosuke’s hair, savouring the scent of his strawberry shampoo. Though it would only be for a few moments, right now, Yosuke was Yu’s, and Yu’s alone.

  
  


~...~

  
  


It was just as well that Akira was throwing a tantrum. Goro definitely didn’t have the time to deal with him, and he didn’t want to either. It was a perfect excuse. Shido had given him a task to complete, so he would simply do that in the meantime. 

Truth to be told, what Akira had said had gotten under his skin. Of all people, Akira had to know that Goro wasn’t truly interested in Rise. After all the time they’d spent together, he _had_ to understand. So why had he reacted in such a way? At the back of his mind, Goro suspected that they both knew the answer, but neither of them was cool-headed enough to sort through their webs of emotions. And Goro certainly wasn’t going to try.

The corridor to Dojima’s office was empty, as expected. It was the weekend, after all, so most faculty members were either in dorms of their own or at home, wherever that might be. 

A few hours ago, one of Shido’s contacts had conducted a sweep of Dojima’s house, but had found nothing amidst the clutter. They could only hope that Dojima had decided to store the vial in his office. Otherwise, violence would hardly be the least of Dojima’s worries. 

Like most other teachers, Dojima had a desk of his own, and two cupboards. Unlike other teachers, he seemed to have an endless series of shelves and paperwork, clogging up the room to the extent that it seemed to strain under the pressure. Goro had a bad feeling that all this mess actually served the purpose of making things easier to hide.

Thankfully, no one was in the office either. Goro started rooting through the shelves methodically, rapping on them with his fist in search of hidden compartments. The stacks of shelved paper formed walls, stretching endlessly across the room. As far as Goro could tell, there was nothing in the first five shelves.

Goro gritted his teeth. He couldn’t continue searching blindly. The more time he spent here, the higher the possibility that someone would arrive.

Perhaps the vial was hidden in an obvious spot? Goro searched through Dojima’s cupboards and desk compartments, but there was nothing there, and there were no secret compartments either. Had Dojima really stored the vial in one of the shelves? Goro sighed to himself. This was going to be a long day.

Or maybe, just maybe, there was somewhere else. Dojima wasn’t exactly the least absent-minded man - the stacks of paper around the room proved that. He wouldn’t be able to remember which shelf he used _that_ easily. Well, if it wasn’t the shelves, his desk, or his cupboards, where else could he have hidden the vial?

As Goro paced around the room, looking for answers, he noticed that one of his footsteps seemed to sound a little different from the others. Immediately, he retraced his steps. There it was again. The sound seemed airier than the others, the mark of something… hollow.

Of course. He’d hidden it in the floor! Goro bent down, loosening the floorboards to reveal a secret compartment. Inside lay a single vial.

Then, the door opened.

“Goro?” Naoto said. There was a knife in their hand. Their brows were furrowed in concentration. “What are you doing here?”

“I….” Goro put his hands up. “I can explain.”

“What is there to explain?” Naoto asked. “You wanted to take the vial away. Tell me, are you working for the mastermind?”

Worry bled into Goro’s expression like paint on a canvas. “No, of course not, Naoto. You see, Dojima-sensei’s hiding crucial evidence from the police. This piece of evidence might be what we need to figure out who’s responsible for all this once and for all. Don’t you think that we should hand it to the authorities?”

Naoto sighed. “I can’t let you do that.”

“Why?” Goro said. “I can’t help but find it suspicious that you knew the vial was here before I mentioned it to you. Are _you_ working for the mastermind? Are you here to steal the vial?”

“No, I-” Naoto shook their head. “Look, Dojima-sensei believes that the police force is corrupt, which is why he entrusted me with the task of ensuring that no one takes the vial away. If the mental shutdowns were truly caused by drugs, why wasn’t this reflected in the autopsies? Clearly, someone at the top systematically eliminated every similarity to throw off the investigation.”

“Perhaps this drug in particular contains substances that our autopsies are ill-equipped to detect. Don’t you think that’s more likely? Perhaps Dojima’s simply lying to you, and he’s been working for the mastermind this whole time.”

“But why would he keep an empty vial?”

“Maybe it’s bragging rights,” Goro said softly. “To remember all the people that he’s killed. Serial killers do the same thing. People are rarely who you think they are. Dojimai is no exception.”

Naoto bit their lip. “Fine, both parties are equally suspicious. But what else can we do?”

 _We._ They’d fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. Goro slipped on a pensive smile. “How about this - why don’t _we_ keep the vial? We both have the contacts we need to run tests and diagnostics to proceed with our own investigation. After all, if we can’t rely on Dojima or the police, the only people we can rely on are ourselves and our friends. Let’s pursue the truth together, shall we?”

Naoto hesitated for a moment. Then, they nodded their head. “Alright, I’ll let you take the vial.”

“But what about Dojima?”

“I’ll make something up. Do bear in mind, though, if I ever see you without it, I _will_ tell Dojima. Is that clear?”

Goro nodded with a smirk. “Crystal.”

  
  


~...~

  
  


Yosuke was awoken by the sunlight. The bars of it that filtered through the windows had drifted languidly to caress his face, lighting it up with a kiss. For a few moments, Yosuke struggled to register his surroundings. All he knew was that his head lay on something warm. Something soft. It smelled like pine, woody and stoic.

It smelled like Yu.

Yosuke knew that he should have lifted his head up right away. Hell, he needed to start his revision proper - he hadn’t been able to do most of the questions, and he’d spent most of the day thinking about Yu and his girlfriend instead of studying. But somehow, his thoughts didn’t translate into action. For some reason, all he could think about was how comfortable Yu’s shoulder was. How natural it felt, laying there by his side. Yosuke took in Yu’s scent, Yu’s touch, Yu’s everything. He’d never felt more relaxed in his life.

When he was done, he moved back upright, stretching himself like a cat. It was only then that he noticed the drool that stained Yu’s jacket. His face reddened.

“Sorry for drooling on your jacket. You could have woken me up, you know?”

Yu only shrugged. “You looked so peaceful.”

It was then that Yosuke realised exactly how good-looking Yu was. I mean, he always knew on a superficial level that Yu was attractive, but he never realised that Yu was _handsome_. Perhaps even beautiful. The glint of his silver locks, the stormy grey of his eyes, the defined curve of his jaw and shoulders, every part of his body was a curiosity, worthy of examination.

Well, Yu’s girlfriend had probably examined it already.

“But what if your girlfriend saw us like that? She might get the wrong idea like everyone else has. I mean, even Akira was convinced that we were dating before he heard about your girlfriend.” For some reason, Yosuke found himself scratching his head with nerves. Why was he so anxious? What was he scared of?

Bur Yu just continued to smile. “I don’t mind. As long as you’re fine with it, there’s nothing I wouldn’t be fine with either.”

There was something about the simplicity of Yu’s response, the sincerity in Yu’s eyes, that caught Yosuke off guard. Instantly, he was flooded with relief. But why? What could it mean? The library was quiet, too quiet. Yosuke could feel his heart thumping in his chest and the warmth that threatened to creep up his face.

He had to shake it off before Yu noticed.

“Wow, that was suave, partner! Hoping to practice your lines on me before using them on your girlfriend? Come on, let’s go help Akira and Ann with the food.” Yosuke rushed towards the exit, but Yu caught his arm. The same thing had happened countless times, but this time felt different. Yosuke could feel his skin trembling with a self-consciousness he’d never felt before. 

“Don’t walk so quickly,” Yu said. Yosuke could feel Yu’s breath on his ear. “Let’s go together, okay?”

~...~

* * *

_ > OUTGOING CALL TO SHIDO-SAN _

* * *

Goro sipped on his glass of coffee, waiting for the crackle of Shido’s voice. The coffee was alright, but compared to Akira’s, everything else paled in comparison. On any other day, Akira would have brewed a cup for him. But he had offended Akira somehow. Goro still didn’t see how his date with Rise was in any way Akira’s business.

“Have you found it?” Shido said by way of greeting. It was always like this with Shido. No politeness, straight to business.

“I have,” Goro said. “I was, however, spotted by Naoto Shirogane.”

“I assume you have something else to add?”

Goro watched as Ann and Akira strode out of the library, heading to the vending machines that sold sandwiches and other meals. Akira had noticed him staring, but didn’t seem to want to acknowledge him. “Yes. I managed to convince them that I simply didn’t trust Dojima enough to leave the vial in his care. However, they’ll soon be asking me to send it for tests.”

“That sounds like a problem. I’ll send someone to take care of them.”

“No.” Goro said a little too forcefully for comfort. He took a moment to calm his feelings. “I mean, Naoto Shirogane is descended from a long line of detectives, and will hence be more difficult to assassinate. Besides, the death of one of their comrades will make the other members of the investigation team more suspicious of any other actions I might take to sabotage their efforts. Better to leave killing Naoto as a last resort.”

“Then, what do you suggest?” Shido asked.

Goro watched as Akira struck a conversation with some girls he had met in passing. Goro recognised them as members of their class. From their body language, they seemed quite taken with Akira, their faces red and smiles wide. Goro could hear the sound of their laughter from where he was positioned. He bit his lip so hard he tasted blood.

“Akechi?”

“My apologies, Shido,” Goro said. “Perhaps you could simply send someone to steal the vial from me, making its disappearance more believable. If Naoto does attempt something, I can carry around a vial of poison as a last resort.”

“A thief? Then what was the point of sending you the first place?” Shido sighed. “Fine, I suppose we all have to adapt to changing circumstances. Where should the thief place the poison?”

“One of my jacket pockets should suffice.”

“Alright,” Shido said. “Consider it done.”

He hung up. The sounds of laughter had only grown louder, but it was only now that Goro realised it was because Akira and co. were moving closer to him. 

“Hello, Goro, can we sit here?” Akira smiled.

Goro smiled back. “Of course.”

“So, Fujisawa, you were talking about how you and Owari are both in the gardening club?” 

The shorter girl that Goro assumed was Fujisawa nodded emphatically before blushing shyly. “Y-yeah, it’s really fun.”

“The flowers must be really pretty this time of the year, huh?” Ann said.

“I’m sure they cannot compare to the beauty of Fujisawa and Owari,” Goro said smoothly. Then, he laughed. “Sorry, I’m practising my charm for an upcoming audition. How did I do?”

“It was very convincing, Akechi-kun,” Owari said. “For a few moments, I thought you actually meant it.”

“Who said I didn’t?”

“Be careful, Goro-kun, what if Rise-chan hears about this?,” Akira grinned. He was cleaning his glasses with his shirt, exposing a surprisingly good-looking face. “He wasn’t wrong, though. The two of you really are quite beautiful.”

“I… er…” At this point, Owari and Fujisawa were both at a loss for words, their cheeks crimson.

“Oh right, the two of us actually have something to do now,” Owari said. “Sorry, but we kind of have to go!” 

The two of them left the tables quickly, not even saying goodbye in their haste.

“You shouldn’t do that,” Goro said when they’d left. “You know they’ve both had a crush on you for months. Toying with their emotions won’t end well.”

Akira grinned, but his eyes were as hard as they’d been in the library. “You knew that I was wrong, but still, you joined me in flirting with them. Do you really have the right to correct me?”

“Are you sure you want to continue this?”

“A bit late for that, don’t you think?”

Goro sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to argue with you. I don’t see how me dating Rise is any of your business.”

Akira laughed. “Oh, it’s my business alright.”

“How is it any of your business? The two of us are adults. We’re capable of making our own decisions.” Goro stared at Akira defiantly. Someone was probably going to film the two of them, but Goro didn’t care.

“You don’t even like her. You’re playing with her, toying with her for your success.”

“And how are you so sure I don’t like her? Even if I don’t, perhaps I'm just seeing if we have chemistry together. How are you so confident that I’m not dating her seriously?”

Akira paused. “You know the answer to that,” he said softly.

Goro glared at him. “And what if I don’t?”

“Then there isn’t anything else to be said.” And with that, Akira left the table, the two of them still fuming. Ann followed behind, her brain still struggling to process what exactly had happened between the two of them. As he finished his coffee, Goro drew back into his chair with a sigh.

  
  


~...~

  
  


As Goro expected, the thief came at 3am. Quickly, he slipped the vial of poison into Goro’s blazer and retrieved the vial Dojima had found. In order to give the impression that Goro and the thief weren’t working together, the thief had already ransacked Dojima’s and Kanji’s rooms, making it seem as if the thief had tried to look for the vial among Dojima’s possessions first before moving to his students. 

What Goro hadn’t expected was how loud the thief was. The thief had started ransacking Goro’s room too, throwing papers wildly and shoving files to the side. 

Eventually, Yu woke up, groggy. He spotted the thief, and his jaw went slack. 

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” 

Instantly, thief burst out the room, crashing down the hallway, creating enough of a ruckus to wake up practically every student on the block. All the while, Yu ran after him, shouting at the other boys to join him. Goro himself decided to rise a little after Yu, before scrambling to get to his feet. He barely had to pretend - after a whole night of waiting, he was undeniably drowsy. He was about to run after the thief himself when Akira stopped him.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Goro said, trying his best to seem shocked. Then, it occurred to him. Even after their argument the day before, Akira’s first thought had been him.

“Aren’t you going to say something about Rise?”

“Goro, you just got robbed, I might still be angry with you, but that just means I care about you, which I do. More than...” he sighed. “More than I’d like to admit.”

Goro touched Akira’s shoulder hesitantly. The other boy didn’t budge.

“If you must know, the relationship between Rise and I is purely for publicity. Neither of us is truly interested in each other.”

“Well, you still kissed her, didn’t you?” Akira said. “And it was all just for your stupid preteen fans..”

Goro didn’t answer. With his hand, he felt the rise and fall of Akira’s body. The other boy had rushed over as fast as he could. Now, he was panting with genuine fatigue.

The next day, Goro’s agent called him again. Apparently, pictures of Goro and Akira arguing had made their way online, and rumours that Goro was gay were more numerous than ever. He then suggested that Goro go on another date with Rise. 

Goro declined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg the boys are fighting... but it's sweet? idk mate
> 
> The mind game stuff would be so unhealthy irl but idk from this pov at this time it's almost sexy... actually forget I said anything ofc it's not sexy it's mind games. Anyway.
> 
> I love how smart both Akira and Goro are like I truly do,,, bless (except for the Goro taking the vial part please don't think too much about that this is a Fic ok??)
> 
> Thanks for reading, thanks for watching, pls like and subscribe, and I'll see you guys soon-ish?


	10. In Which Everything Goes Wrong/Right

Just as quickly as the exams had arrived (approximately the time that passes between two chapters), they slipped back into the recesses of each student’s subconscious, festering in the darkness til the time came to make their world a living hell again. With academics finally out of the way, Yu was pretty much free to do whatever he wanted. As expected, this involved seeking out Yosuke and spending time with him. Yosuke had agreed to this.

Yosuke, however, had not agreed to be tailed by the horrific mess of a friend group that was Team Hanakami. Well, what Yosuke didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

“Oracle to everyone, are you guys in position?” Futaba whispered into her walkie talkie.

Goro looked around him. The park where Yu and Yosuke had arranged to meet was convenient in the sense that it provided all of them with a variety of adequate hiding spots. Unfortunately, apart from him and Futaba, the other members of Team Hanakami had chosen to huddle rather conspicuously behind various bushes. Some members of the public had already started photographing them - Futaba would have to work extra hard later to save Ann’s modelling career from the hordes of curious netizens. Thankfully, Goro had had the good sense to disguise himself with a hoodie and sunglasses, He and Futaba were sitting on a park bench together, the latter donning a neon green and black ensemble that gave her the appearance of a cosplayer.

Contrary to popular belief, Goro wasn’t the only person on the team with the slightest bit of common sense. Akira actually had a good head on his shoulders. He just chose to ignore it.

As he watched his friend squatting with the rest of the team, Goro couldn’t help but sigh. Akira had chosen to dress in a black tailcoat with red gloves, complete with a mask of all things on his face. Sure, he looked rather cool, Goro supposed, almost dashing, even, though that was mostly due to the fact that he’d covered up his face. But, he was still undoubtedly the most eye-catching thing in a one-kilometre radius, and to Goro, that was one hell of a pitfall.

“Nagi to Oracle, I’m in position,” Yu said. He’d wanted to dress up at first, but Ann had thankfully advised him against it, while giving Ryuji the task of stopping Yusuke from changing Yu’s entire wardrobe. 

“Joker to Oracle,” Akira said. “The rest of us are in position too.”

“Skull here. Is there a reason why we have to hide behind the bushes?”

“Shut up and stay there, Skull.” Futaba said.

“But you guys are on the bench!”

“Respect the chain of command!”

“But-”

“Skull, if you keep talking, everyone’s going to spot us,” Ann sighed.

“Besides,” Yusuke said. “This is a very nice bush.”

Goro could see Akira twitching with laughter. “Joker, stop laughing, You’re going to give us away.”

Akira just started laughing harder. “Why don’t you come over and shut me up, then?”

“Everyone shut up!” Futaba ordered. Then, she turned to Goro, turning off both their microphones. “Hey, are you staring at my brother’s butt?”

“What?”

Futaba rolled her eyes. “You heard me.”

“I… of course not,” Goro crossed his arms, repulsed. “I would never do such a thing.”

“Why, huh? Is it not good enough for you?”

Goro’s eyes widened. “Wait, you  _ want  _ me to stare at your brother’s butt?”

“Yeah, this is the angle it looks the best from,” she said. “I’ll look out for Yosuke for you if you need to take a picture.”

Despite himself, Goro started staring at Akira’s rear end. It did seem particularly… shapely from where he was sitting.

“He does squats,” Futaba explained.

“I see. That explains quite a bit.”

Futaba turned on both their microphones. “Hey, Joker, Crow just checked out your butt.”

“Futaba!” Goro exclaimed.

From the bushes, Akira turned around to give Goro a cheeky thumbs-up. The other boy was not amused.

“Crow and Joker, stop flirting already,” Ann said. “Look, Yosuke’s coming right this way.”

  
  


~...~

  
  


“Sorry for being late!” Yosuke said as he walked up to Yu. “For some reason, my alarm clock didn’t wake me up today and neither did Akira so I spent most of the morning asleep and-”

“It’s okay,” Yu said. He moved towards Yosuke as well, meeting him in the middle of the road, a warm smile on his face. Oddly enough, Yosuke had known how Yu would answer. With Yu, he always had freedom. The freedom to be himself, to make mistakes, with the knowledge that Yu would always be there to catch him if he fell. Yosuke only hoped that Yu felt the same way around him.

After what had transpired in the library, it had become hard for Yosuke to met Yu’s gaze. Their relationship wasn’t exactly damaged - on the contrary, Yosuke was thinking of Yu more than he’d ever before. But at the same time, though he was always happy to spend time with Yu, nothing felt more torturous. It was embarrassing, of course, but at the same time, Yosuke couldn’t help but delight in those moments. 

As he couldn’t bear to look at Yu, Yosuke decided to look at the park around him. Flushes of blossoms emerged from leafy beds, spirals of colour brimming with vivacity. The trees stretched up towards the heavens, bonsais and maples shielding passerbys from the sun’s glare. And most striking of all was the lake, a perfect mirror that reflected the clear, blue sky and the dappled clouds that hung from it.

“Shall we go?” Yu said with a smile.

“Sure,” Yosuke said, feeling a little small. 

The two of them proceeded down the stone path at the side of the park, the spring breeze tickling their faces, and feathering Yosuke’s hair. 

“It’s a beautiful park, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah, it really is,” Yosuke could feel something bubbling up from within him. Suddenly, Yu’s presence felt a little too close. 

“I’m glad you think so,” Yu said. “We’ll be able to see more of it from the Ferris wheel.”

Yosuke wasn’t so sure that he’d be able to admire the view fully while him and Yu were in such close proximity to each other. 

Before Yosuke knew it, the two of them were right in front of the aforementioned attraction. It stood right in the middle of the park, by the lake and greenery. There were quite a few tourists, but overall, the place was sufficiently deserted. Everything seemed perfect.

Then, from the corner of his eye, Yosuke saw a cyclist careening towards him and Yu. Immediately, Yu swept Yosuke in his arms, leaping out of the cyclist’s way. In a single moment, Yosuke’s greatest hopes and nightmares had come true at once. Yosuke’s head was pressed against Yu’s chest. He could feel the pounding of the other boy’s heart against his ear, the warmth of his embrace, the pinpricks his touch sent through his skin.

But then Yu slipped, and Yosuke felt himself tumbling down, down into the lake. 

The water was biting cold, sending a shock up Yosuke’s spine. Flailing frantically, Yosuke eventually flopped onto the banks of the lake, spitting and sputtering. Yu followed a few moments after, his bangs falling so low they near covered his eyes.

“What the actual fuck, partner?”

“Sorry, I was just trying to jump out of the way, but I guess I miscalculated.” Yu stared mournfully at his clothes. “And now that we’re all wet, I’m not sure if they’ll let us on the Ferris wheel.”

“So… what should we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Yu sighed. “I was hoping that we could get lunch after the Ferris wheel, but it’s a bit too early for that now, assuming they agree to let us in to begin with, and we can’t exactly go shopping while we look like this, and…” 

Yu simply sighed again. The misery on his face was so unexpected, it almost struck Yosuke as… cute. 

As he left one arm on the shore, Yosuke used his other arm to send a wave rushing towards Yu’s face. The other boy flinched, sending Yosuke into fits of laughter.

“What was that for?”

“It’s punishment for dropping me into the lake.”

“Oh,” Yu said. “In that case, feel free to splash me as many times as you want.”

As Yu turned towards Yosuke, closing his eyes to brace himself, Yosuke couldn’t stop a loose smile from spreading across his face. 

He almost said it there and then, those words that had been building in him for longer than he knew, the words that threatened to overpower him every time he was with Yu. But emotions like his could ruin the moments they shared, and Yosuke would do anything to protect them.

Instead, Yosuke simply reached forward to muss Yu’s hair. 

“It’s okay, Yu. I forgive you, and I always will.”

A smile crept its way up Yu’s face. “But what about our wet clothes? What can we do now?”

“I mean, we could always go for a swim while our clothes dry.”

“But we didn’t bring any swimwear.”

“Oh come on, Yu, haven’t you ever heard of skinny dipping?” The flush that made its way up Yu’s face only made Yosuke bolder. “Come on, do it for me? Please?”

“Alright,” Yu said. Then, he made his way onto the banks, and began to strip, laying his clothes on a park bench. Yosuke couldn’t tear his eyes away, shamefully entranced as Yu revealed a set of muscular arms, a toned back, and… well… Yosuke averted his gaze til Yu made his way into the water, catching the slightest glimpse of a broad chest. By now, both of them were equally red, and Yosuke wasn’t sure if this was such a good idea after all.

“Do you need me to look away?” Yu asked, a hand on Yosuke’s shoulder, his touch all the more sensitive while his body was bare. 

“Nah, it’s cool, I didn’t look away when you were stripping either.” Yosuke screamed internally. Why the hell had he said that? He rapidly moved towards the bench. “I’ll be quick, partner, just wait here for me!”

Yosuke didn’t know for sure that Yu was watching him, but the very thought gave him pause, while sending an unwelcome tingling between his thighs. He couldn’t think about those things now - it was best to strip as quickly as possible to mask his emotions, then it’d all be over. Why did he keep thinking of it as stripping anyway? That just made it more sexual. Why not “taking off his clothes”, or-

“Is there something wrong, Yosuke?” Yu’s voice was a little higher than usual. It was as if Yu was a customer at a strip club, cheering his favourite performer on, or a supportive boyfriend comforting him as they prepared to have sex for the first time. Either way, Yosuke was embarrassed.

“Yeah, it’s alright, partner, I just saw a butterfly.” Yosuke removed his clothing as fast as he could, eventually landing into the water beside Yu with a splash. Yosuke could feel how unnatural the urgency with which he had leapt in was, and could only hope that Yu wouldn’t bring it up.

“You know, it’s okay,” Yu said.

“Huh?”

“Your… thing,” Yu said. “I mean, it’s a natural response, with the wind and the air and all, and-”

_ Oh. _

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Yosuke said hurriedly, trying his best to avoid Yu’s eyes.

“No, really, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, your, um… it’s size… it wasn’t…”

“Race you to the other end of the lake!” Yosuke shouted, hoping his waves would cover up the blood that raced to his face.

  
  


~...~

  
  


“Are you alright?” Goro asked. He and Akira had been sent to ride the Ferris wheel a few moments before Yosuke and Yu so they could report back to the other members of the team on the date’s progress by watching the other couple from their cable car. For some reason, Akira hadn’t seemed too pleased about the assignment, and now, he was looking worse than ever. His whole face was drenched in sweat, and his mouth was quivering slightly. It was rather unsettling to say the least.

“Of course,” Akira grinned. To someone else, Akira’s smile might have seemed perfectly natural, but Goro knew better. If Akira was truly happy, his grin would have been utterly devious.

“Oracle here, Nagi and Raiya are in position. Crow and Joker, are the two of you ready?”

“You know,” Akira whispered. “It’s not too late to back out if you don’t want to ride the Ferris wheel with me. I mean, what would your fans think? So, you know, maybe, we could-”

“If I cared about that, which I don’t, I wouldn’t have agreed to come here in the first place,” Goro said. “Crow here, Joker and I are in position.”

“You’ve done it now. Your reputation, your dreams, all down the drain,” Akira dropped to the floor dramatically. “Oh, Goro, why did you do this to yourself? Why?”

Goro rolled his eyes. This was never about him, it was about Akira, and he was long tired of pretending otherwise.

“It’s fine if you’re scared of heights, you know,” Goro sighed. “This isn’t some kind of straight boy bravery contest. I can do this by myself.”

“I’m not scared of heights, you’re scared of heights!” Akira shook his head empathically. “So let’s not go onto the Ferris wheel. To protect you. Who’s scared of heights.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I’m the one who’s been trying to convince you to ride the Ferris wheel!”

“No, you’re the one who’s been trying to get out of it, while I’ve been trying to convince you otherwi-”

“Oracle to Crow, Nagi and Raiya are about to enter,” Futaba barked. “Go now, and don’t have sex in midair!”

“This is your last chance,” Goro said as he entered the carriage. 

“In your dreams,” Akira said, but already, he was trying not to look down.

  
  


~...~

  
  


The carriages ascended slowly but surely, revealing quite the impressive view. Treetops swelled in the air, and the lake was even more crystalline from above. 

“You know, Yusuke was right about this, it really  _ is  _ beautiful here,” Goro said.

“Uh-huh.”

Akira was covering his eyes with his hands. He sat still on one of the benches to the side of the carriage, refusing to stare through the transparent floors. It was a little absurd, seeing someone in such a bold getup look so scared.

Like the good friend he was, Goro snapped a picture.

“Hey!” Akira exclaimed, kicking Goro lightly. “Why did you do that?”

“I thought you weren’t scared of heights,” Goro said nonchalantly.

“I’m not,” Akira said. “It’s just… my eyes hurt, that’s all. 

“Sure,” Goro said with a grin. If Akira was going to act like an idiot, Goro might as well enjoy it.

“Oh my god, Akira, look at that bird!” Goro pointed in the air, summoning up all the acting skills he’d ever learnt. “God, it’s beautiful. Come on, Akira, don’t you want to see it?”

“No,” Akira moaned, still covering his eyes with his hands. “Not unless it’s your cock.”

Goro gave Akira a condescending look that the other boy didn’t see.

“And look at that tree over there! My god, it’s incredible. Akira, look!”

“How incredible could it be? It’s a fucking tree,” Akira groaned. “There are trees everywhere.”

Goro raised an eyebrow. It was time to try a different tactic. He sat down beside Akira.

“Akira, while we’re here, why don’t you try getting over your fear?” 

“I don’t want to,” Akira shifted away from Goro, but the other boy pressed on.

“Come on, Akira, we’re almost at the very top. Don’t you want to see the lake? The trees? The landscapes that tourists always capture with their cameras? It always looks better in person, you know. Do you really want to lead your whole life without ever seeing a view like this in person?”

“I’m fine with that,” Akira said, but his voice was a bit more uncertain.

“Come on, Akira, please?” Goro clutched Akira’s left forearm. “Come on, do it for me?”

He pulled gently on it, reinforcing his point.

“Alright,” Akira sighed. He removed his hands from his eyes. 

The terror on Akira’s face was like nothing Goro had ever seen before. The way his eyes widened, the way his nose twitched slightly, Goro couldn’t stop himself from laughing. It was all so hilarious, he snapped another picture.

At least, it was until Akira started holding onto Goro for dear life, burying his face in the other boy’s neck.

“What the h-”

“This is all your fault!”

“How is it my fault? You chose to come here.” Goro said incredulously. It was increasingly hard for him to move when Akira was bearing down on him. Then, all of a sudden, he felt something shift against his leg. 

This couldn’t be happening.

“Don’t you dare say anything about that,” Akira clawed his fingers into Goro’s arm. 

“I mean, I wasn’t going to, but now that you’ve mentioned it… does fear turn you on?”

“Shut up.”

“I mean, typically, it’s the opposite for other people, but the fact that your fear and lust seem to complement one another seems to suggest something out of the ordinary.” Thankfully, Akira wasn’t sitting on his lap, otherwise, Goro might have been teased in turn as well.

“It’s not like that,” Akira said. “It’s just that your neck really… smells of you.”

“Really? That’s very unexpected, considering that it’s my hoodie we’re talking about. How on earth could that happen?”

“Shut up,” Akira sighed. The two of them sat there for a while, with Goro admiring the scenery while trying to ignore the erection jabbing into his side as Akira clung to him like a dead fish.

Goro shifted to change his position. Akira let out a low growl.

Silence again.

“Hey, what the fuck was that?”

“Don’t be so fucking vulgar, it was a natural response,” Akira said, slightly embarrassed. Then, he bit his lip, pressing against Goro more fiercely this time. “You know, if you wanted to… touch me, I wouldn’t mind.”

“What?” A million questions raced through Goro’s mind. “Why would I- why here- why do you assume-”

“Stop judging me, damn it!” Akira pouted. “It’s just, since I’m scared and all, and we have nothing else to do, it would probably distract me from my fear.”

“And what makes you think I’d be so interested in having sex with you?”

“You  _ were  _ staring at my ass earlier,” Akira said.

Goro nearly leapt to his feet to defend himself. “No, I wasn’t! Futaba was lying to you.” 

“My sister might be a pervert otaku, but she’s not a liar.” Akira shifted a little, his dick throbbing as it brushed against Goro. “So, what do you say?”

Goro could feel his heart beating in his chest. Yes, he was certainly feeling a little lustful himself, but they were in midair and he already had a complex relationship with Akira without adding sex into the mix. But at the same time, Akira’s tailcoat was rather attractive, and Goro found himself wondering how those gloves would feel on his bare skin…

The carriage arrived at the platform. Immediately, both of them jumped away from one another, adopting the odd way of walking that men often use to mask their arousal. The two of them took a breather on a nearby bench. Goro turned on his walkie talkie.

“Crow to Oracle, apologies. Joker and I weren’t able to observe Nagi and Raiya.”

“Crow, didn’t you notice? Nagi and Raiya didn’t ride the Ferris wheel in the first place. They went skinny-dipping in the lake. Which brings me to my next point. Joker, I’m sorry to say that Nagi has done more squats than you.”

“Wait a minute,” Akira said. “So you mean we went on that Ferris wheel for nothing?”

“That depends,” Futaba said. “Did you see Raiya’s dick? God, it was really quite something. I bet you could even see it from the top of the Ferris wheel.”

Goro frowned. He hadn’t seen Yosuke’s dick, of course, but come to think of it, Akira’s erection wasn’t anything to scoff at either, and… no, why was he even thinking about this?

“All I can say is, I hope Nagi likes it rough,” Ann said.

“Either way,” Ryuji snickered. “He’s going to have a very hard time, if you know what I mean.”

There was the faintly audible sound of a high five in the background.

“The two of you are horrible,” Yusuke sighed.

“Exactly,” Akira said. “God, wasn’t anyone going to tell us what was going on?”

“That’s not what I meant. What I meant was that Yosuke’s clearly the bottom. Yu won’t be having a rough time at all.”

Akira groaned as Yusuke, Ann and Ryuji got into an argument about sex and artfulness and why the hell it was important to be artful during intercourse anyway. Despite the sexually confusing ordeal he’d been put through, Goro found himself laughing.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Swimming with Yu was more fun than Yu had expected. The water had definitely been a little chilly initially, but eventually, it became refreshing to feel the clear lake water against his skin. And there was nothing Yosuke was more grateful for than the fact that him and Yu could have fun together again. Somehow, all it took was a few wave wars and breath-holding competitions to dissolve the tension between them. With the awkwardness out of the way, Yosuke found that he was enjoying the time he spent with Yu more than ever before. As the two of them made their way to the restaurant, their arms around one another, Yosuke couldn’t help but feel reminded of why.

The cafe that Yu had picked out was wonderful. Bouquets of fresh flowers adorned every corner, and the air was a delicious blend of coffee, roses and vanilla. However, there was also an abundance of hearts decorating the cafe and the chairs were mostly composed of bright pink loveseats. As the two of them picked a table to sit down at, Yosuke noted that the table was heart-shaped as well.

“It seems that this cafe is chiefly directed at couples,” Yu said.

“I guess so.”

Yu scanned Yosuke’s face. “Does that make you comfortable? If it does, we can go to another place instead.”

“No, it’s alright, really.” As Yu fussed over him, Yosuke smiled, as foolish as it might seem. “Come on, let’s go order something.”

Eventually, Yosuke settled on a plate of syrupy pancakes, with lots of whipped cream to boot. Yu, on the other hand, chose a plate of pasta. 

As a waitress served them their dishes, Yosuke found himself feeling rather underwhelmed. His pancakes weren’t the airy delights he’d imagined them to be and seemed slightly burnt. In contrast, Yu’s pasta was covered extravagantly with herbs and meat, and was dripping with tomato sauce. The smell was heavenly. It made Yosuke’s mouth water. 

“Would you like a taste?” Yu asked with a smile. Clearly, he’d observed the desperate look on Yosuke’s face, but with food like this before him, Yosuke couldn’t care less.

“Yes, definitely!” Yosuke exclaimed.

Yu nodded. After scooping up a pile of simmering pasta, Yu raised his spoon to Yosuke’s lips expectantly.

Yosuke’s eyes widened. He’d expected to use his own spoon, not… this.

“Umm… open wide?” Yu said, his face a little red.

“Oh right, sorry about that,” Yosuke allowed Yu to feed him, the two of them meeting each others’ eyes. The way Yu made sure that the food wasn’t too hot, the way he gently slotted it between Yosuke’s lips, made the moment incredibly intimate. Eventually, Yosuke had no choice but to look away.

“Hey, since I’ve already tried your pasta, do you want to try my pancakes? 

“Sure.”

It was only after Yosuke raised his spoon to Yu’s mouth that he realised he’d made a terrible mistake. The pancakes dripped with maple syrup, leaving a gooey mess on Yu’s lips. Together with the whipped cream, it made for an astonishingly erotic image. As Yu licked his gently parted lips, Yosuke found himself watching, dumbstruck.

“Is everything alright, Yosuke?”

“Yes, of course,” Yosuke exclaimed a little too loudly. When he’d left his dorm room this morning, he hadn’t expected to feel so attacked by the day’s events.

Thankfully, the rest of the meal passed with little to no excitement. Instead, Yosuke was able to bask in what he truly loved the most - spending time with Yu. As they spoke to one another, Yosuke couldn’t help but marvel at the ease with which their conversation flowed, and even more so, the patience and sincerity with which Yu regarded every single one of his statements, as if they were all worthy of utmost attention. Was this what having friends felt like? Or was it something deeper? Yosuke hadn’t been through enough to know. All he knew was that he and Yu shared a connection that Yosuke had never experienced before, and Yosuke would never agree to let it go.

It was when they’d finished eating when it happened. All of a sudden, loud music started blasting through the cafe’s speakers, and a horde of people dressed in bright pastels jumped out from behind the counters and dashed towards the table where Yu and Yosuke were seated. Yosuke hardly had enough time to ask them what they were doing when they started breakdancing, their limbs twisting and turning in the air as they spun on their hands and heads. Their leader, a woman wearing sunglasses, had a microphone in hand.

_ Yo bro, what’s up? You been down on luck? _

_ Got your straw hair tucked like a fluffy-ass duck?  _

_ I gotta message someone’s been waitin’ to say. _

_ Thank god some fugly hoe sent him my way. _

Yosuke looked at Yu questioningly, but the other boy was eyeing him with the exact same expression. The two dancers at the side of the rapper pulled out their own microphones, and began to harmonise.

_ Look, this world is lonely, ain’t no question ‘bout it, but _

_ Just wait a bit ‘cos if the shoe don’t fit _

_ We can work it out, and that’s what life is about _

_ Being together and love, heaven sent from above! _

“Tell him how you feel,” the two singers sang, placing their hands on Yu’s shoulders.

_ It’s time to pop the question, don’t leave your nuts a bustin; _

“Tell him,” the two singers sang again, lifting a confused Yu to his feet.

_ ‘Cos love is the answer, trust me I’m a dancer, yeah! _

“Tell him,” the two singers crooned. “Won’t you please?”

One of them handed her microphone to Yu, while the other one handed hers to Yosuke. By now, everyone in the cafe, and a good number of people outside it were staring at Yu, waiting for his response. A few of them were even taping the whole thing.

Sweat dripped from Yu’s head, suggesting that something was, in fact, very wrong, but there was a part of Yosuke that hoped that there was, indeed, something up his partner’s sleeve. If Yu confessed his love to Yu right now, Yosuke would definitely be surprised, but the very idea filled him with hope.

“Look, Yosuke,” Yu said. “I-”

“What the hell is going on in here?” A man with grey hair entered the cafe with another man with caramel hair. The leader of the breakdancing crew turned around in shock. 

“Wait,” she said to Yu. “You mean, you aren’t the ones that hired us? I mean,  _ you  _ have silver hair, but the other guy has silver hair too, and...”

“Of course I’m the one that hired you, idiot!” The man with the silver hair yelled. “They’re teenagers, for God’s sake. I was the one who hired you for my proposal, and now it’s all ruined!”

“Wait, darling,” the man beside him said, his eyes wide. “You were planning to propose to me?”

“Well,” The man with silver hair scratched his head bashfully. “I mean, I thought that we were ready for our next step, but if you’re not, I mean if you don’t want to, I mean…”

At that moment, the other man fell to his feet, retrieving a ring from his pocket.

“Shuichi, the two of us have been together for only 3 short years, but already, I can’t even begin to imagine a life without you. You’re the light of my life, the sun to my moon, the stars that twinkle in my night sky. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Shuichi burst into tears. “Yes, yes, yes!”

Yosuke burst into applause with the rest of the cafe’s customers, trying to suppress the envy that bristled from deep within him.

  
  


~....~

  
  


Goro was many things. A star student, an actor, a model, a whip-smart detective, and of course, a first-class criminal. But what he was not was a singer, a fact that he’d managed to hide for most of his life. It was why he always rejected Christmas appearances on variety shows, citing his non-existent family and their problems in an attempt at avoiding carol singing.

Well, sadly, it appeared that his life of deception was about to end.

The karaoke room wasn’t exactly what Goro had expected. In the shows he’d watched as a child, karaoke rooms were always dimly lit by blue and pink neon lights. The atmosphere was always a little charged, perhaps even sexual, glowing slivers highlighting bare skin, aching for touch. Goro had hoped that the uncomfortable atmosphere would have driven Team Hanakami out of the karaoke room after just a few songs.

This karaoke room, however, was nothing like what Goro had imagined. Instead of neon lights, there was a small cluster of disco balls hanging from the ceiling, its colours more whimsical than anything. A few comfortable, worn couches sat encircling an old television, with a microphone at its side. Futaba picked it up.

“Hi guys, I’m your hostess this evening, Futaba Sakura!” 

The team erupted in cheers. Even Goro joined it, though his applause was more polite than wild and enthusiastic.

“Anyway, before we start, I want to say that no one here is exempt from singing! We’ll go in a circle so every one of you will have to sing at one point or another. Have I made myself clear?”

Shit.

The various members of the team made a few non-committal sounds that could, to someone as assertive as Futaba, easily be interpreted as assent.

“So, who wants to start first?”

Everyone was silent.

“Really guys?” Futaba sighed. “Fine, I’ll go first.”

She picked up the remote, rifling through the catalogue of songs, eventually settling on number 34.

A familiar song made his way through the speakers, all electric guitars and rumbling drums. Goro’s eyes widened a little.

_ GO GO PHOENIX RANGERS! _

Goro gritted his teeth to stop himself from cheering along.

“Are you okay, Goro?” Akira shot Goro a concerned look. “Why, is this too juvenile for our Detective Prince?”

“No, I’m just feeling a little under the weather, though I must thank you for your attention.”

Akira raised an eyebrow. “Wow, that was unnatural, even for you.”

The blast of an epic guitar riff nearly shattered Goro’s brain with the strain.

“Futaba, this is actually kind of cool,” Ann said. “What song is this?”

Goro couldn’t stop himself from speaking. “It’s the OP of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R, a show that airs 8pm every Saturday night. Critics have never responded well to it, but by now, it has become one of the biggest cultural milestones of the century. Many popular films in the superhero genre owe it a great debt.”

“Can you guys stop staring at me?” he added a while afterwards.

Futaba had long since stopped the song. “Damn, Goro, I never realised that you were an otaku!”

“I am  _ not  _ an otaku,” Goro said hotly, crossing his arms. “I’m simply interested in the various cultural watersheds that have come to define our society today.”

Yusuke nodded. “I definitely understand that. The way culture and art intersect and interact is always fascinating, even if the culture in question here is rather… distasteful.”

“It’s not distasteful!” Goro said loudly. Then, he seemed to find a great interest in his shoes. “But either way, I’m happy that you believe me.”

“Well, I definitely don’t believe you,” Ryuji moved closer to swing an arm around Goro’s shoulder, much to his chagrin. “Goro the otaku, huh? I can hardly believe it. Who would have ever seen that coming?”

“”Most of his online fanpages,” Akira said nonchalantly. “It’s been widely speculated since a fan spotted a figurine of one of the rangers in Goro’s home during one of his livestreams.”

“Let’s not do this,” Goro sighed. “Really, I don’t understand why you all can’t just believe-”

Futaba stretched a fist towards Goro. “Phoenix Featherman, from the ashes-”

“R Rangers to hell and back!” Goro exclaimed, meeting Futaba’s fist with his own. The two of them performed an intricate ritual of hand movements, as if they’d known each other for years. By the end of it, Goro’s face was red.

“Shut up,” he grumbled at no one in particular.

“Oh my god, Goro-kun, that was so cute!” Ann cooed. “I had no idea you were so young at heart.”

“Not helping.”

“My goodness, Goro, I didn’t know that such innocence lurked beneath the depths of your mature exterior!” Yusuke gasped. “I  _ must  _ sketch your visage this instant.”

Goro looked to Akira for support, but the other boy was smiling just as widely.

“Goro, how could you and Futaba have a connection that you and I don’t? You  _ must  _ teach me that handshake sometime, then we can binge the seasons again and again and again!”

“Don’t lie, Akira,” Futaba rolled her eyes. “You’ve seen every season too. You know what, why don’t I restart the song and let Goro sing instead? I don’t really want to repeat any songs, and since this is clearly Goro’s favourite one...”

This was Goro’s worst nightmare. His guilty pleasure had been exposed in front of everyone, and he was seconds away from bombing the first song of the night. But everyone was already cheering, and there was no way he’d be able to escape without the others smelling a rat.

Then, Akira rested one reassuring hand on Goro’s shoulder.

“I’ll be singing this song with Goro too,” he said. “Can’t have him outshine me as the world’s number one Phoenix Ranger Featherman R fan.”

Futaba gave him a look. Then she shrugged. “Fine, secure that romance route Akira, just don’t go all Happy Ending over the couch later, okay?”

As he remembered the events that had transpired in the cable car, Goro clenched his fists so hard they turned white. Akira, on the other hand, shot Futaba a wink.

The track started again, chords a-blazing. In a few moments that passed far too quickly, the first verse begun.

Goro’s first thoughts were that Akira was an incredible singer. Of course he was, why wouldn’t he be? In his lips, the juvenile rock that defined so much of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R became a serenade, a ballad that leapt and soared with technique and energy. 

But at the same time, there were a few slips on Akira’s part, a few off-key notes and off-beat lyrics that seemed at once intentional and completely natural. It almost felt calculated, the way they were scattered after every line or so. Goro felt the nerves within him ease. Whether these mistakes were intentional or not, Goro was too appreciative of them to question them.

When the chorus came, Goro started singing too. Under the influence of his nerves, Goro’s voice was a little shaky, but Akira’s voice simply got louder, as if to hide it. He met Goro’s gaze sincerely, his smile a softer version of the teasing one that Goro was accustomed to. Goro felt a surge of courage overpower him, and soon, he was singing as loud as he could, even as his pitch faltered and the words died in his throat. Goro knew at the back of his head that the other members of the team were still there, but in his eyes, there was only Akira, Akira with his raven hair, Akira with his bright eyes and soft lips, Akira, who had not only the voice of an angel but also, as much as he hid it away, the heart of one.

And as the team erupted in cheers, all Goro saw was the grin that licked at Akira’s lips, and the warm glow of his eyes beneath the arresting disco lights.

  
  


~...~

  
  


After the rather… interesting meal that they’d shared at the cafe, Yu and Yosuke returned to the pool. Part of it was because of how much fun they had had, but another part of Yosuke had simply enjoyed watching the way Yu moved. Was it driven by lust? Maybe a little. But watching Yu swim had allowed Yosuke to see many things about his partner that he hadn’t had before. The mesmerising way the muscles in his forearms moved as he gestured with his hands, the arch of his back as he stretched his body, the curve of his arms as he shot through the water, leaving cascading droplets in his wake. Yosuke couldn’t tear his eyes away from Yu. He wanted to see the way Yu reacted with every emotion, every provocation, yearned to know every part of Yu just as intimately as he knew himself. Yosuke knew he was staring, but he didn’t care. He needed to memorise every detail, and keep it locked away deep within his heart.

As the sun began to set, the two of them climbed onto the river banks, putting on every piece of clothing but their shirts as they waited for their torsos to dry. Watching the skies above, Yosuke couldn’t help but recall the day at the festival. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Yu said.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Yosuke replied reflexively. “I’m kidding, of course, but it sure is romantic out here.”

“Isn’t it?” Yu said softly.

“Yeah. You should really bring your girlfriend sometime.”

Yu didn’t answer. Yosuke could feel Yu staring at him, as if studying his face for something. At that moment, Yosuke felt a sudden urge to tell Yu everything, to confess the emotions he had for him. He imagined Yu moving closer, a wide smile on his face, embracing Yosuke in his arms.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t risk everything he had with Yu for this, especially since Yu was dating Ann. Besides, in what world would Yu ever choose him over anyone else? What was there in Yosuke that Yu didn’t already have? Yu was wonderful, perfect, even, and Yosuke was content to watch him excel.

“Yosuke, do you like me?”

The setting sun bathed Yu’s face in deep amber, giving his face an alluring glow.

Yosuke’s voice was hoarse. “Does it matter? Don’t you already have a girlfriend?”

“No, I don’t,” Yu reached out to hold Yosuke’s left hand, but Yosuke inched away. Yu sighed. “I’m sorry. Do I disgust you?”

“No,” Yosuke whispered. “You’re wonderful.”

Yu reached forward for Yosuke’s hands once again, and this time, Yosuke didn’t resist. He raised Yosuke’s hands to his face, allowing Yosuke to feel his skin. The gesture was so tender, it made Yosuke’s heart lurch.

“I love you too,” he said. Then, he leaned forward for a kiss.

It was as if the world had stopped. Yu’s hands were warm and sturdy, his lips impossibly soft. As they touched, it was as if Yosuke’s soul was melting, brimming with intensity that unfurled like a flower, rushing to every single part of his body. Hot tears burst from Yosuke’s eyes, gleaming in the light.

But something didn’t feel right. Yosuke pulled away, separating Yu’s hands from his own. The crestfallen expression on Yu’s face was almost too much to bear, but Yosuke’s conviction was resolute.

“I can’t do this,” he said. “I’m not good enough for you.”

Yu’s eyes widened, but Yosuke continued before the other boy could speak.

“You’ve always been the one helping me, ever since the very beginning. You were the one that convinced me to join the student council and do something with my time at school. You came up with the plan to get Akira and Goro to participate in the cooking competition together. You won a prize for me at the festival, you’ve helped me with my studies, you’ve been by my side every step of the way. But what about me? What have I ever done for you?” Yosuke said. “All I do is fall asleep during classes, say stupid, inappropriate things and make messes for everyone else to clean up. You’re incredible, Yu, and I love you more than I could ever show you. But that’s how I know you deserve better, someone better than me.”

“That’s not true at all,” Yu said, the pain in his eyes driving blades through Yosuke’s heart. “Yosuke, please don’t go.”

But Yosuke had already left, with nothing but the damp imprint beside Yu to indicate that he’d ever been there.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Team Hanakami had quickly grown bored of watching Yu and Yosuke swim. Most of them had headed back to the shopping street, hoping to make new purchases and buy their dinner, but Goro and Akira had chosen to stay among the flowerbeds, The two of them had each made each other different jewellery with the blossoms, from crowns and necklaces to rings, the last of which Akira had half-convincingly passed off as a mere joke.

“Oh goodness, Goro, you made curry for me?” Akira gasped in an exaggerated manner, like a Victorian lady who’d just heard a dirty word. “I do hope you aren’t trying to curry favour with me.”

After the cooking competition, Goro and Akira had entered a strange period of time when they stopped cooking together altogether. But Goro often caught himself staring at the kitchen as he headed towards his dorm room, and a part of him felt empty, somehow, without the same annoying presence in his life pestering him to go to the bar with him. So when Akira had “casually” mentioned how he was going to be cooking later that day, Goro had cleared his schedule and “casually” mentioned that he was going to be free that day as well, before offering to pop by. In a roundabout fashion that was typical for the two of them, they’d started meeting there about thrice every week, each time loudly hinting at their own availability, eventually settling on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It was stupid, really, the way so much of their relationship revolved around unsaid understandings. But at the same time, Goro loved it. In a way, the trust they had in each other, the belief that the other person would figure it all out felt like the strongest proof of intimacy they had.

Eventually, the two of them had started cooking the same thing, but in different ways, each person trying to guess how the other person had changed the dish. Food blog pseudo-knowledge aside, Goro didn’t know as much about what went into a meal as Akira, but what he did know was Akira, what he would try, what he liked. It wasn’t a perfect system, but in general, Goro found that it worked.

Goro rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged at his lips. “Alright, I get it. Pass me your curry, won’t you?”

“Turme-ny puns? You know, because turmeric.”

“You need to stop milking these puns, they’re coco-nut cute.”

“Coco-nut cute?” Akira wrinkled his nose. “That’s rough.”

“Okay,” Goro tried to seem apathetic, but his disappointment crept into his voice, eliciting a laugh from Akira.

“God, Goro, you’re so high maintenance.”

“Well, I’m sorry,” Goro pouted. “It’s not like I can just suppress my emotions.”

Akira grinned. “Really? Coming from you?”

Goro glared at Akira. He started putting away the curry he’d made for Akira.

“No, wait, wait!” Akira wrapped his arms around Goro, keeping him still. “You didn’t let me finish. It’s true that your coco-nut cute pun was terrible, but do you know what’s cute?”

Goro smiled. “What?”

“Me.”

Goro pretended to shove Akira away, but the other boy tightened his hold on Goro, burying his face into the other boy’s side. It was different, new, a level of touch that neither of them had ever attempted before, outside of the cable car, at least. Goro could feel the slight hesitation in Akira’s hold on him.

But he liked it. Goro started tickling Akira, sending the other boy’s arms flailing wildly as he tried to grab Goro’s hands, his entire body shaking with laughter. Goro hardly realised how widely he was grinning too, his hands easily evading Akira’s capture.

But then, Akira made one final effort. He threw himself at Goro, pinning the other boy to the ground by holding his forearms against the floor. The two of them stared at each other, eyes wide, their bodies heaving with physical exertion. Everything had escalated so quickly, and now all Goro could see was Akira crouching above him, his face just as flushed as Goro’s own.

At that moment, Goro heard a dull clink. The vial of poison he’d been carrying dropped out of his hoodie pocket. Akira picked it up, examining the contents.carefully, his expression unreadable. The two of them were silent for a few moments.

“It’s a joke,” Goro said. “A prank I’m planning to play on Yosuke.”

“No, it’s not.”

“And why would I have a vial of poison?”

“I don’t know,” Akira whispered. “Why did you steal information from Dojima’s laptop?”

Goro didn’t answer. Makoto must have told him about her suspicions. Akira sighed.

“And what were you going to use this poison for? Did you add it to the curry you gave me today?” Akira’s voice cracked a little as he said those words.

“Never,” Goro said. And he meant it. He used both of his hands to grip one of Akira’s, the one that wasn’t holding the accursed vial. “I would never hurt you.”

“And how about everyone else? Who were you planning to kill? Why would you even consider doing something like this?” Akira’s voice became more and more frantic, filled with more emotion than Goro had ever seen in him. But even though it hurt him, Goro wasn’t backing down.

“Because the mastermind is my father. He raped my mother when I was a child, and left her with an illegitimate son to care for, eventually leading to her suicide.” Goro could feel his anger overcome him, the way his body trembled, like one possessed, as if something was about to break out of his skin. “I was tossed from foster home to foster home, abused and bullied by nearly every person I met. But I survived and became a detective, just so I could get close to him, just so I could get him to trust me. His name is Masayoshi Shido, the man they call the next prime minister of Japan. At the peak of his power, I will tell him who I am, and kill him with my bare hands, savouring every moment as he writhes in pain, the light fading from his eyes.”

Goro could tell that he seemed like a psychopath, but he didn’t care. He stared into Akira’s eyes, expecting to see disgust, perhaps even fear. But instead, all he saw was rage.

“Don’t be pathetic.”

The words hit Goro like a slap. “Excuse me?”

“Do you think you’re the only one that has been hurt by Shido? I was arrested for helping a woman that he was sexually harassing. I’d punched him to stop him, but because she was one of his employees, she refused to testify against him. I might not have gone through as much as you, but I lost all my friends, my family, my loved ones. They all refused to believe me, seeing me as some violent criminal, a disgrace to all of them. But not once have I ever considered taking revenge in such a fucked up way, Murder? Really, Goro? How is that any better than what Shido has done to you?” Akira’s voice had gotten so loud, he was basically shouting.

“Maybe it isn’t better, but it’s what he deserves. I wasn’t even planning on killing anyone but him. Why can’t you just let me be?”

“Because I love you!” Akira’s words died in his mouth like a choking gasp. Hot tears dripped down his face, tears that Goro longed to brush away. 

“Because I love you,” Akira repeated, with a whisper. “Because I don’t want to lose you. Because I need you here by my side.”

And then he kissed Goro. It was clumsy, but raw and passionate, a kiss a person could drown in, so heated that they could lose themself. And then he was gone, leaving Goro with his still-beating heart.

  
  


~...~

* * *

\-- PRIVATE MESSAGE TO  **MAKOTO NIIJIMA** **_(Makoto Niijima)_ ** \--

* * *

**Goro Akechi [7.06pm]**

I need to meet you.

It’s about the thumbdrive.

**Makoto Niijima [7.06pm]**

Took you long enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK THIS IS MY BEST CHAPTER LMAO MAYBE HE'S BORN WITH IT, MAYBE HE JUST FUCKING SNAPPED
> 
> I didn't include it but in an alternate timeline yusuke and ryuji were sitting in that cafe during the flopped proposal and in order to avoid Yosuke's gaze they kissed and pretended to be other people. Except Yosuke recognised them and just thought they were on a date, deciding not to bother them.
> 
> Futaba and Goro doing the fucking handshake whatever honestly gets me every time like sometimes I write something that makes me go !! despite its flaws and that particular part of that scene was one such thing.
> 
> 2 more chapters to go, thanks for Steaking around. Hope to release everything soon uwu


	11. In Which Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

**DAY 1** ****

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **AKIRA KURUSU** **_(THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE)_ **

* * *

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[3.00pm]**

Akira, do u know what happened btwn Yu and Yosuke??

We were going to discuss where to go during the school trip but

The two of them wouldn’t say anything to each other or look at each other.

The mood was so awkward…

Do you think we messed up that day or something? O_o

* * *

GROUP CHAT: **FUCK MASOYASHI SHIDO’S PUNK ASS**

MEMBERS: 

**CHIE SATONAKA** **_(Trial of THE STEAK),_ ** **GORO AKECHI** **_(Goro Akechi),_ **

**KANJI TATSUMI** **_(DUDES <3)_ ** **, MAKOTO NIIJIMA** **_(Makoto Niijima),_ ** **NAOTO SHIROGANE** **_(S_ ** **♤** **_M)_ **

* * *

**Trial of THE STEAK [5.24pm]**

Ok, I’ll say what we’re all thinking.

We need to tell Dojima.

**DUDES <3 [5.25pm]**

NO WE CANT DO THAT

Goro would be arrested 

That can’t happen

**S♤M [5.25pm]**

I H8 2 SAY IT BUT CHIE’S RITE

I DON’T WANT GORO TO BE ARRESTED BUT WE CAN’T DO ANYTHING ON OUR OWN

WE DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES/CONTACTS

**DUDES <3 [5.25pm]**

There has to be another way

We cant let goro go to jail he doesnt deserve that

**Goro Akechi [5.26pm]**

Thank you, Kanji, but they’re right.

Naoto and I have some contacts, of course, but they’re not sufficient for any real investigation.

Dojima, on the other hand, has been a detective for decades.

If we want to stop a man as powerful as Shido, we need Dojima to help us.

**Trial of THE STEAK [5.27pm]**

Wait, Goro, ur not opposed to the idea?

**Goro Akechi [5.27pm]**

And I, myself, have always accepted the possibility of being imprisoned. 

After all, it’s likely that we’ll need my testimonial.to convict Shido.

**DUDES <3 [5.28pm]**

But i

We cant

guys???

**Makoto Niijima [5.28pm]**

Everyone, please shut up.

I’m sure none of us want Goro to be convicted. I, myself, would never allow it.

**Goro Akechi [5.28pm]**

Makoto, that’s very touching, but I’m afraid I must disagree.

**Makoto Niijima [5.28pm]**

Goro, when I told everyone to shut up, I meant you as well.

Remember - Dojima believes that there’s a mole in the police force. He’s probably going to need our assistance as much as we need his.

Especially since we have a bargaining chip on our hands - the vial of poison that Shido gave Goro.

We can make Dojima promise to hide the fact that Goro was working with Shido. It should be easy enough, considering that Goro’s crimes over the years basically amount to being a “mole” of sorts and making questionable judgement calls that happened to benefit Shido. 

In return, we’ll promise to assist him.

If we know who we’re trying to convict, getting a case together should be simple enough.

Besides, my sister’s a lawyer. She can help us with this, at least.

**Goro Akechi [5.30pm]**

Do you really believe this will work?

**Makoto Niijima [5.30pm]**

Yes. 

Goro, I know there haven’t been many people in your life that you could trust.

I’m not dense enough to believe that you’ll trust me so easily.

However, I promise you, that I truly believe we stand a chance.

**Goro Akechi [5.30pm]**

Thank you, Makoto. For everything.

**Makoto Niijima [5.30pm]**

Don’t thank me yet. We still don’t know if my plan’s going to work.

**Goro Akechi [5.31pm]**

Still, thank you.

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **AKIRA KURUSU** **_(THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE)_ **

* * *

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[11.00pm]**

Hey, are you okay?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[11.00pm]**

Sorry, I’ve been busy.

Idk why Yu and Yosuke are so silent, but I doubt it’s our fault.

No need to worry.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[11.01pm]**

Oh ok…

I’ll ask them about it tmr.

Btw, if there’s anything wrong, you know you can always talk to me, right??

  
  


**DAY 2**

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **ANN TAKAMAKI** **_(_ ** **_♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[1.03am].**

Thanks, Ann.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[6.45am]**

<3

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YU NARUKAMI** **_(_ ** **_Yu Narukami_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[6.45am]**

Why aren’t you and Yosuke talking??

Like, did our plan go wrong or sth?

**Yu Narukami** **[6.46am]**

Don’t worry, Ann, it’s not your fault.

In fact, the plan went really well. 

I confessed to Yosuke by the lake.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[6.46am]**

OMG

Oh nooo

Did he reject you? 3:

**Yu Narukami** **[6.47am]**

Worse.

He likes me back.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[6.47am]**

WHAT?

ASDHKGHS G WHHHHAAATTT??!?!??! 

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YOSUKE HANAMURA** **_( ♪_ ** **_i am the best thing at junes ♪_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[6.47am]**

YOSUKE HANAMURA HOW THE FUCK DID YOU SCREW THIS UP????

YOSUKE HANAMURA

YOSUKE ANSWER ME!!

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **AKIRA KURUSU** **_(THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE)_ **

* * *

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[6.47am]**

OK I FIGURED IT OUT

YOSUKE HANAMURA IS A FUCKING IDIOT!!!!

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[6.53am]**

???? huh

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **NAOTO SHIROGANE** **_(S_ ** **♤** **_M)_ **

* * *

**Goro Akechi** **[7.15am]**

Hi, Naoto?

**S♤M** **[7.15am]**

?

**Goro Akechi** **[7.16am]**

I’d like to apologise for lying to you that day in Dojima’s office.

I promise, I would never have poisoned you.

**S♤M** **[7.17am]**

I’M NOT GONNA SAY IT’S OK BC IT ISN’T.

U WERE GOING 2 DESTROY EVIDENCE, THEREBY OBSTRUCTING THE PATH OF JUSTICE.

HOW COULD U DO THAT 2 THE VICTIMS OF THE MENTAL SHUTDOWNS? 

2 HARU? 2 FUTABA?

AND ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, I CAN’T HELP BUT FEEL BETRAYED.

**Goro Akechi** **[7.18am]**

I don’t expect you to forgive me.

I have done terrible things, and though I wish I could take it back, I understand that I can’t.

**S♤M** **[7.18am]**

THAT’S TRU.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME…

THERE’S NO HARM DONE. 

STILL CAN’T BELIEVE DOJIMA PLANTED A FAKE VIAL IN HIS OFFICE.

**Goro Akechi** **[7.19am]**

Yes, but that doesn’t make me any less guilty, does it?

**S♤M** **[7.20am]**

I GUESS.

BUT… I WANT A REASON TO 4GIVE U

UR 1 OF THE FEW FRIENDS I’VE EVER HAD.

I DON’T WANT 2 LOSE U...

**Goro Akechi** **[7.21am]**

Thank you. That means a lot to me. 

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YU NARUKAMI** **_(Yu Narukami)_ **

* * *

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[1.00pm]**

Ann’s rly worried about you two, u know?

**Yu Narukami** **[1.02pm]**

Are you with her right now?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[1.02pm]**

Yeah.. she keeps ranting about how stupid Yosuke’s being.

Smh u should rly talk to him. I mean, it’s obv that the two of u like each other.

You can work sth out.

**Yu Narukami** **[1.03pm]**

I wish it was as simple as that.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[1.03pm]**

Isn’t it??

The two of u seem like nice ppl so I don’t see why u’d have a falling out like this.

**Yu Narukami** **[1.04m]**

Come to think of it, I don’t see why either.

If he just saw what everyone else saw, none of this would be happening.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[1.04pm]**

Huh?

**Yu Narukami** **[1.04pm]**

Thank you for your advice, Akira.

And do start talking to Goro as well. Our room’s atmosphere has been very despondent lately.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[1.05pm]**

Idk what you’re talking about.

**Yu Narukami [** **1.05pm]**

You do.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[1.05pm]**

Don’t say things like that.

You sound like him.

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YOSUKE HANAMURA** **_( ♪_ ** **_i am the worst thing at junes ♪_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[4.00pm]**

YOSUKE

YOSUKE

YOSUKE

YOSUKE

YOSUKE

YOSUKE

YOSUKE

YOSUKE

**♪** **i am the worst thing at junes ♪ [4.01pm]**

ann, pls.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[4.01pm]**

FINALLY!!

Come on, Yosuke, why don’t you want to date Yu??

You like him, don’t you????

**♪** **i am the worst thing at junes ♪ [4.02pm]**

so?

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[4.02am]**

What does that even mean?? 

YOSUKE HANAMURA HE’S OBSESSED WITH YOU YOU DUMB BITCH

JUST THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS AND DATE HIM?!

**♪** **i am the worst thing at junes ♪ [4.03pm]**

i don’t deserve him.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[4.03pm]**

Oh come ON, Yosuke, that’s not true AT ALL.

**♪** **i am the worst thing at junes ♪ [4.04pm]**

ann, i don’t want to do this rn.

could u be a friend to him for me? akira and goro are busy and idk who he has to confide in…

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[4.05pm]**

...no. 

**♪** **i am the worst thing at junes ♪ [4.05pm]**

excuse me??

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[4.05pm]**

The person Yu wants and needs is you.

The person he wants to confide in and love is you!!

You’re completely and utterly wrong about whatever self-deprecating bullshit you just typed out.

And I’ll convince you of that if it’s the last thing I do!! >:(

  
  


**DAY 3**

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YOSUKE HANAMURA** **_(♪_ ** **_i am the worst thing at junes ♪_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**Yu Narukami** **[6.45am]**

Yosuke, I love you.

And today, I’m going to tell you exactly why.

If you feel uncomfortable, I’ll stop.

But otherwise… I hope you’ll let me love you.

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YOSUKE HANAMURA** **_(♪_ ** **_i am the worst thing at junes ♪_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**Yu Narukami** **[6.45am]**

It’s awkward eating breakfast with Goro.

He’s really busy with something, so there’s nothing to talk about.

At times like this, I wish you were here.

Has anyone ever told you how you brighten up every room you enter?

You’re so full of joy, Yosuke. 

There’s always something new with you, something to discuss, something to talk about.

And you’re so unguarded, so genuine, so refreshing. No one can help but love you.

Even someone as pretentious as Goro, who’s looked down on you from the moment you met.

I miss you.

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YOSUKE HANAMURA** **_(♪_ ** **_i am the worst thing at junes ♪_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**Yu Narukami** **[9.30am]**

Yosuke, what should I do?

You didn’t smile once during class when I was around you.

But the moment you left with Akira, the two of you started laughing.

Has Akira taken my place?

Your smile is beautiful, Yosuke. It’s one of the first things that attracted me to you.

I just wish I could see it more often.

And I wish I were the cause, and not Akira.

Maybe it’s a little selfish of me, but when your face fell after a while, I was relieved.

I remember: when we were by the lake, your smiles seemed to stretch into forever. 

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YOSUKE HANAMURA** **_(♪_ ** **_i am the worst thing at junes ♪_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**Yu Narukami** **[12.30pm]**

Lunch alone at Aiya.

I was hoping you would pass by.

I know you’d have tried to avoid me, but I wanted to see your face.

Do you remember our first day together, when you brought me here?

I was so lost that day. To be honest with you, I’ve never had a lot of friends.

Even now, I’m not particularly close to anyone.

Anyone but you.

So when you bumped into me in the hallway that day, it felt like… fate.

Like some deity had finally given me someone that I could depend on.

Who would depend on me in return.

Your kindness was the first of your traits that I noticed.

You were so willing to help me, to befriend me, to spend time with me.

It’s silly, but I think the first meal we had in Aiya was the best I’ve had in a long while.

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **AKIRA KURUSU** **_(THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE)_ **

* * *

**Goro Akechi** **[1.30pm]**

Thank you for the curry :)

I’d assumed that you weren’t ready to talk to me, but I suppose I was wrong.

Did you know? The whole criminal justice class is helping me with the case.

Everyone’s been surprisingly tolerant of a criminal like myself. 

Even Dojima, funnily enough.

Anyway, our entire class is going to Crossroads when we’re done for the day.

Hope to see you there ~

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YOSUKE HANAMURA** **_(♪_ ** **_i am the worst thing at junes ♪_ ** **_)_ **

* * *

**Yu Narukami** **[3.00pm]**

I just realised that I never told you that I first confessed to you after the school festival.

I told you I liked you, and you said that you liked me back.

Before saying that that was simply what was expected between best friends.

It’s embarrassing to admit it, but that day, I broke down in front of basically everyone I knew.

I had the biggest crush on you.

I still have.

Somehow, they came up with plans to get you to fall for me.

From telling you that I had a girlfriend, to scheduling study 

sessions and even planning the date we had by the lake.

At least I considered it a date. Do you consider it one too?

I hope so. To me, it’s our first one. And, if I can help it, certainly not our last.

**♪ i am the worst thing at junes ♪** **[3.02pm]**

Alshglahskak lbh a;l

Asdhglash diglhsdgipahASHD GAHSK:G

AGK FDH G: HWIGWG

**Yu Narukami** **[3.02pm]**

Yosuke, are you okay?

**♪ i am the worst thing at junes ♪** **[3.02pm]**

TEAM HANAKAMI WAS NOT STUPID!!!

**Yu Narukami** **[3.02pm]**

Three exclamation marks?

Ann?

**♪ i am the worst thing at junes ♪** **[3.03pm]**

Yeah, hi Yu!!

I stole Yosuke’s phone, he’s been gushing about you this whole time...

You’re doing great, keep going! Yosuke says he loves alshglasgalsg

ASH GHSGH WK:GAHGGAGKA

ASHGK A

**Yu Narukami** **[3.04pm]**

Is that so?

Well, then, I suppose I’ll keep going.

I love you too, Yosuke :)

* * *

PRIVATE MESSAGE TO **YOSUKE HANAMURA** **_(♪ i am the worst thing at junes ♪)_ **

* * *

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[3.15pm]**

Yosuke, pleaaaaase let me back in.

Pleeaaaaase I’m begging! Come on, Yosuke.

Yosuke, who else will you talk to about Yu?

**♪ i am the worst thing at junes ♪** **[3.15pm]**

akira.

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[3.16pm]**

Akira has been staring into space for the last ten minutes, thinking about nothing but his stupid detective prince.

Don’t lie to yourself, Yosuke, you want to talk to me about this.

**♪ i am the worst thing at junes ♪** **[3.17pm]**

fine.

how is he so cute?? Idek what to say he’s just so cute?

why is he always thinking of me, thinking about all these stupid things? 

I know it’s a bit cringy and cliche but at the same time i… love it?

what am i supposed to do?

**♥ ƬΉΣ PЯΣƬƬY ӨПΣ ♥** **[3.18pm]**

Maybe you could, idk, be his boyfriend??

I know, a totally wild idea, right??

Except, like, it’s not.

At all.

**♪ i am the worst thing at junes ♪** **[3.18pm]**

but he’s too good for me.

* * *

**PRIVATE MESSAGE TO YOSUKE HANAMURA (♪** **_i am the worst thing at junes_ ** **♪ )**

* * *

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[3.19pm]**

So what if he’s better than you?

**♪** **_i am the worst thing at junes_ ** **♪** **[3.19pm]**

huh?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[3.19pm]**

Maybe Yu _is_ better than you.

Maybe he helps you with everything, maybe he’s more skilled than you at many things.

Maybe even most things.

So what?

**♪** **_i am the worst thing at junes_ ** **♪** **[3.20pm]**

it means i’m a burden to him.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[3.20pm]**

Wrong.

Since you’re so convinced that it’s true, let’s just assume he’s better than you. 

But has there ever been a relationship where both parties were equal?

Love has never been about being as good as one another.

Love isn’t a job you apply for with a resume. It isn’t something that has to be earned.

Love is about making each other better. It’s about making each other happier.

He’s better than you, but you’re what’s best for _him_.

If you push him away, you’re hurting him far more than being with him could.

Do you understand?

**♪** **_i am the worst thing at junes_ ** **♪** **[3.22pm]**

but i still feel guilty.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[3.22pm]**

Then improve yourself.

No one’s stopping you from becoming a better person.

If you care so much about being worthy of his love, then become someone who is.

Now, let’s go to the local gay bar and get ouselves some orange juice, shall we?

* * *

**PRIVATE MESSAGE TO AKIRA KURUSU (THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE)**

* * *

**Goro Akechi** **[6.43pm]**

Akira, you’re not invisible, you know?

I saw you darting behind the counter.

I’m trying not to look at you to preserve your dignity, but do we really need to do this?

I know we’ve always had an… interesting relationship with communication.

We’ve always assumed that the other person knows exactly why we’re doing what we’re doing.

And most of the time, that’s worked out for us.

Well, this time, it hasn’t.

I don’t know why you’re avoiding me

Is it because I’m a criminal? Is it because I never told you I love you back?

Aren’t you going to say anything?

Please say something, Akira.

Fine. If you’re not going to talk to me, I’m not going to force you.

* * *

**PRIVATE MESSAGE TO AKIRA KURUSU (THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE)**

* * *

**Makoto Niijima** **[7.15pm]**

Congratulations, you made Goro Akechi cry.

Until today, I barely knew he had any emotions.

I guess I was wrong - you were the heartless one all along.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[7.16pm]**

That’s not very fair.

**Makoto Niijima** **[7.16pm]**.

Maybe it isn’t.

But that’s exactly what every person at this bar is thinking right now.

Why exactly are you avoiding Goro?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[7.17pm]**

It’s embarrassing.

**Makoto Niijima** **[7.17pm]**

Do I look like someone that would care?

Try me.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[7.17pm]**

You’re going to need Goro to testify, right?

**Makoto Niijima** **[7.17pm]**

Ideally, no, but practically, it’s likely.

We’re trying to find alternative witnesses, but things are looking bleak.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[7.17pm]**

I knew it. 

It’s selfish of me, but I don’t want to lose Goro.

Or rather, I don’t want to fall for Goro, head over heels, and then have him snatched away by a judge for years.

By avoiding Goro, I can avoid that for myself.

Slowly, as we stop seeing each other, our feelings will begin to fade.

And by the time he’s arrested, neither of us will feel pain.

Don’t you see? It’s only by avoiding Goro that I can ensure we’re both spared by reality.

**Makoto Niijima** **[7.18pm]**

Akira Kurusu, that’s the most cowardly thing I have ever heard in my life.

So, in order to avoid the pain of losing Goro, you’ve decided to push him away instead?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[7.19pm]**

It’s not the same.

Things are easier like this.

**Makoto Niijima** **[7.18pm]**

Even if they’re easier, is it not still painful?

Akira, I understand that you don’t want to be left behind.

However, in doing so, you’ve effectively left Goro behind.

How can you take something you yourself consider so painful and damn someone else with it?

Especially the person you love the most.

Akira, Goro isn’t necessarily going to jail. We still have time to assemble a case.

If we can find another witness, we might not need Goro at all.

Isn’t it better to cherish a relationship as strong as the one 

you two have instead of ending it for what might amount to nothing?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[7.21pm]**

I’m sorry.

**Makoto Niijima** **[7.21pm]**

I’m not the person you should be apologising to.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[7.22pm]**

You’re right, you’re right.

But w/ regards to what you said about a witness, I think I might know someone that you could ask.

* * *

**PRIVATE MESSAGE TO GORO AKECHI (Goro Akechi)**

* * *

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[10.30pm]**

Hey

It just so happens that I’m in the mood for cooking tomorrow! 

I’m especially in the mood for cooking for six or more 

people, especially those that work in law enforcement.

So… wanna come?

**Goro Akechi** **[10.31pm]**

Asshole.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[10.31pm]**

Sorry about all that.

From today onwards, I’ll be your biggest supporter. 

I won’t leave you ever again.

Promise.

* * *

**PRIVATE MESSAGE TO YU NARUKAMI (Yu Narukami)**

* * *

**♪ i am the okayest thing at junes ♪** **[10.33pm]**

hey, akira’s making curry tmr.

wanna come?

**Yu Narukami** **[10.33pm]**

As long as you don’t mind, I’d go anywhere with you :)

**♪ i am the okayest thing at junes ♪** **[10.34pm]**

...dumbass.

still love you tho <3

**Yu Narukami** **[10.34pm]**

Yosuke! 

* * *

**PRIVATE MESSAGE TO AKIRA KURUSU (THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE)**

* * *

**Goro Akechi** **[10.34pm]**

I think I just saw Yu blush?

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[10.35pm]**

Baby, blushing won’t seem so miraculous when I’m done w/ u tonight ;))))

**Goro Akechi** **[10.35pm]**

Yeah, because I’ll be suffocating you with my bare hands as punishment for being such a dick.

**THE BRO WHO POSTED CRINGE** **[10.36pm]**

Kinky ~ <3

**Goro Akechi** **[10.36pm]**

Shut up and go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh this is such a sexy chapter you mean I actually paid attention to character voice??? Yeah.
> 
> So many things about this that Get me. Naoto saying that they want a reason to trust Goro? Boom. Yu's 10000 cute messages to Yosuke? Boom. Akira telling Yosuke that "he's what's best for Yu" and that he doesn't need to be "good enough"? Truly some of my best work. Goro crying and Akira's convo with Makoto afterwards? Thank god for that.
> 
> This was such a Bitch to format tho... sighhhh
> 
> Well, one final chapter to go T-T but it's kind of short? More of an epilogue tbh. Hope you guys like it anyway ~


	12. In Which Our Story Ends

The length of a trial is typically four to five days. To Akira, it felt like four to five months.

Goro and the rest of the criminal justice class had come to watch the trial with Dojima. It was what was expected from them, after all, as those responsible for the investigation into the mental shutdowns. The way Makoto’s sister, Sae, seemed to demolish the other lawyer was a comfort, but every day, Akira feared that Shido’s influence was enough to sway the judge’s decision. Every day, he feared that Shido would attempt to expose Goro if he were arrested, using Goro’s past crimes to drag the detective prince down with him. It was an odd sensation, feeling so fearful and so tired at the same time.

He couldn’t embrace Goro in public - he knew that much. But the two of them kept their shoes pressed against each other, a small source of comfort through everything that was going on. And when the two of them feared the worst, they would hold each other’s hands, sometimes squeezing so tight it hurt. Akira didn’t mind. He needed to feel Goro beside him, to feel his presence, something solid in this sea of uncertainty.

Still, the trial was painful. Seeing the unfazed way in which the man who ruined his life stared at Sae, as if nothing they did could ever bring him down. Watching as the woman who’d allowed it to happen testified, giving a new account to the events that had happened that day.

Of course, Akira had volunteered to do the same. He felt so alone without Goro with him. The lights were blinding, and he couldn’t quell the dizziness it created in him. But when he saw Goro staring back at him, with such worry in his eyes, his mouth instinctively formed a cocky grin. It was a weak one, and they both knew it, but Goro rolled his eyes anyway. And then he made a funny face, so perfect in its ugly absurdity that Akira burst out laughing in the middle of the courtroom.

From that moment onwards, everything was alright. Akira still responded to questions with trepidation, but just one glance at Goro reminded him that someone was here with him to support him. And as he spoke and spoke, Akira found that his voice was getting louder and bolder, more sharp and true. When he left the stand, Akira was startled to find that he was smiling, really smiling. And Goro was smiling right back.

Yu and Yosuke had chosen not to attend the trial, and Akira was glad for it. He didn’t want them to worry - they had enough people worrying already. But still, they bought food for the rest of the team every single day, taking orders in the morning and meeting them, no matter how troublesome. And it was always a delight to have a happy Yosuke with them, always ready with another thing to talk about, another hilarious anecdote from his day that comforted them, even with its mundanity. Perhaps precisely due to its mundanity.

It was during lunch one day when the woman that he had saved that day came to talk to him. She asked to speak with him alone, and he agreed, waving away Goro’s look of concern. They sat beneath a tree together as the woman confessed her feelings of shame and fear, how scared she had been that Shido would fire her, how much she had needed the money, for herself, for her parents, to start living the life she wanted for herself. And Akira forgave her. How could he not? She was a victim too.

Goro wouldn’t have. He told Akira so as the other boy recounted his conversation with the woman, saying that he’d hold a grudge against the woman on Akira’s behalf. Akira rolled his eyes, then shut the other boy up with kisses peppered onto his face. It was a comfort, having someone who would defend him more fiercely than he’d ever defend himself.

Eventually, the day of the final judgement came. The whole room was tense. Every member of the investigation team, Akira included, held on to one another, as if forming a prayer circle to wish Shido away.

The judge pronounced him guilty.

Akira could hardly believe his ears. The team was silent as they left the courtroom. Then, they erupted in cheers. Akira swept Goro in his arms, spinning him around and around and around.

“We did it,” Akira whispered. “We really did it.”

“We did,” Goro grinned. And then they kissed each other, not caring if anyone else was there to see.

  
  


~...~

  
  


Yosuke couldn’t stop smiling.

The day that he finally got together with Yu, Yosuke had cried buckets. As soon as he saw Yu enter the room, ready to enjoy the curry he’d been promised, his emotions overcame him and he simply couldn’t help himself. Yu had held him until he was done, comforting Yosuke with the warmth of his embrace, the scent of his jacket. Then, he’d asked Yosuke to be his boyfriend. Yosuke had said yes.

And now, whenever he stared at Yu, Yosuke couldn’t stop himself from smiling. And when Yu stared back, he’d smile too. The two of them would stare at each other for long moments, sometimes holding hands, until one of them looked away out of embarrassment. Then they’d start again, their smiles even wider. It annoyed all their teachers, especially King Moron, who’d throw a piece of chalk right between their eyes, breaking their gaze. But eventually, they all started to lose interest. Kawakami even tried to extract gossip from Akira and Goro, explaining that the entire staff room was dying to know how the two of them had finally gotten together.

Yosuke didn’t care. He’d tried not to look at Yu for so long, he actions now merely made up for lost time.

The two of them had been waiting outside with Futaba and the rest of the student council when the investigation team burst out of the court, cheering impossibly loudly. Haru had rushed up to embrace Makoto, and Futaba embraced Akira. Both of them had tears in their eyes. 

“So, are we going or what?” Ryuji eventually asked. “The Uber drivers aren’t going to wait forever, you know.”

“Ryuji!” Ann glared at him. “You’re interrupting an emotional moment.”

“No, it’s cool,” Akira said with a smile. “Come on, guys, it’s time to visit LeBlanc.

  
  


~...~

  
  


LeBlanc was wonderfully crafted, perfectly capturing the cozy feel that other cafes struggled to emulate. Ann found herself feeling at home instantly, 

However, her comfort was limited by the game of poker she found herself playing with Yu and Yosuke.

“I’d like to raise,” Yosuke said. “Ten dollars.”

He pushed one of the many fake chips that Sojiro had provided them with to the centre of the table.

Ann scanned her cards slowly. Technically, she had a seven pair. But was that enough to win?

“Call,” she said hesitantly, pushing a chip of her own forwards. The other two players didn’t seem to notice.

“Yosuke, I can’t help but notice that there are three community cards with the suit hearts. Are you planning to form a flush?”

“Unfortunately, I only have one heart.”

Yu’s smile widened. “And what about the one I gave you?”

Ann could hardly keep herself from screaming. 

“I still have it,” Yosuke said. “But I gave mine to you.”

“Well, you might not be able to form a heart flush, but you certainly make my face flush. I call.”

In the end, Ann won the round by virtue of her high ace, though both Yu and Yosuke had come close with their kings.

“Oh, you had a king too?” Yu said. “It seems we form quite the pair.”

“Sorry, I can’t do this anymore,” Ann left the table to sit at the bar, regretting every moment she’d spent trying to get the two of them to date. She’d created a monster, and now, she couldn’t take it back.

“Hey Ann,” Futaba called. “Want to help judge this cooking competition?”

Ann’s face lit up..

“It’s between Goro and Akira.”

Ann sighed once again, dreading the flirting that would undoubtedly ensue. Well, at least it came with the promise of food.

  
  


~...~

  
  


“So, when did the two of you start dating?” Sojiro asked. 

Akira grinned at him. Now that he was back in Leblanc, memories of how he’d basically stalked Goro in the past came rushing back. It was only now that he realised how unbelievable it was that someone he’d been borderline obsessed with for so long was now his boyfriend, However, tracking the actual path of their relationship was a lot harder. When had their teasing flirtations become real? When exactly had they both reached the conclusion that they were interested in each other?

Goro didn’t seem to know either. So he simply decided to lie.

“Actually, the two of us started dating just a few days before we started attending school. It shames me to say this, but the combination of Akira’s debonair charm and rather rebellious reputation was very attractive to me, and as a budding detective myself, I was interested to see how his “criminal” mind ticked. Of course, when I found out about his troubled past, I was even more attracted to him. It makes me sound a little immature, but it’s true.”

Akira rolled his eyes, but turned away from Sojiro so only Goro could see. “It’s all true. As Goro-kun’s number one fan, I am truly privileged to be his boyfriend.”

“I see,” Sojiro said. “To be honest, I didn’t really sense your attraction to Akira, Goro, though it sounds as if you were the one who initiated the relationship. I was almost sure that Akira would be the one, considering his creepy fascination with you.”

“He had a creepy fascination with me?” Goro said with a decidedly malicious smile.

“No, I didn’t.” Akira said quickly.

“You didn’t know? Geez, he would look at every photoshoot, watch every interview, and the way he stared at you on the screen…” Sojiro shook his head. “I hope he’s gotten better at hiding his emotions, because I was almost afraid to let Futaba see the expression on his face.”

“Oh by the way, Sojiro, Futaba likes big boobs like Ann’s!” Akira pointed at Ann, who crossed her arms, scandalised.

“Akira!”

“Really, Akira?” Futaba sprang from her seat with a start. “I don’t like big boobs, and even if I did, I would never-”

“It’s fine,” Sojiro said. “I do too.”

“Oh,” Futaba said softly. “Taste. But anyway, I’m not just going to forgive you for throwing me under the bus, Akira!” 

She dashed towards the staircase, but Akira caught her quickly, pulling her to the floor.

“What’s in his room, Futaba?” Goro asked.

“Posters, pictures and plushies, all of them sealed in a cardboard bo-”

“FUTABA PLAYS OTOME GAMES!” Akira yelled. “HER FAVOURITE GUY IN MYSTIC MESSENGER IS ZEN!”

“AKIRA’S INTO PISS PLAY!” Futaba yelled back. Sojiro raised his eyebrows as Goro reeled back a little, stricken.

“WELL, FUTABA’S A FURRY!”

“AND YOU’RE AN EXHIBITIONIST!”

“What are those things, Ryuji?” Yusuke asked.

“Shush,” the blonde boy said, busy writing said blackmail on a piece of paper.

“You know what, enough is enough!” Kanji leapt to his feet, his arms crossed. “I’m gonna buy some ice cream, and by the time I’m back, you guys better be calm again, got that?”

Then, he turned to Naoto, slightly hesitant. “Want to come with?”

Naoto nodded gently, then so vigorously Goro thought their head would pop off. The two of them exited the cafe together, the door closing behind them with a clink of windchimes.

The cafe was silent for a few moments.

“Are they gone?” Ann whispered.

“Hell yeah!” Futaba grinned. “Come on, guys, it’s time for Operation Kannao to begin!”

Goro and Akira grinned at one another. Then, they burst out of the door, hand in hand, the other members of the team following behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done. It's finished. What can I say?
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's read this far. Thank you, me, for all your effort. And most importantly, thank you LGBTQuomminity bc truly everything I will ever write will be for you heaux.
> 
> Ciao!
> 
> \- adeleade


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